Famiglia
by Demonic Dawn
Summary: Tsunayoshi Sawada is an ingenious yet apathetic 5 year old girl that meets her connections with the Vongola early on and it will affect her future forever, preparing her for the daunting tasks she'll face.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I in know way own any of the characters nor KHR.

Prologue

Tsunayoshi Sawada was a sweet child. She contained all the characteristics of a regular girl, along with the instantaneous love of animals, flowers, and the such. She comforted her mother when her father wasn't home, helped with the chores (even if it was something as simple as moving the laundry basket for her mother), and her smile was one that could melt any man or woman.

She, however, at age 5, with long brown hair, a short stature, chubby cheeks and the cuteness of a baby, was a very… apathetic girl. Not so much that she ignored everything in sight, in fact she cared for all creatures on earth- just not really the human kind. Except a select few of course, like her mother.

Years in elementary were spent isolated, and the term, 'friend' was not a word she used often. She actually reveled in the feeling, as it was almost disdainful to see the blubbering idiots in her second grade class acting like, well idiots all the time. And so, most other children ignored her, settling for playing in the sand and tossing balls at one another.

There may have been few select moments where she felt somewhat lonely and perhaps yearned for a companion of some sort to share her ideas and opinions with, but that was only in rare moments of reflection.

On the other hand, Nana, Tsuna's mother was a bright, cheerful and extremely naïve woman. How else would she survive the absence of a husband to help her along? But even then, Tsuna's lack of friends at such an early age was a cause of distress. Whenever Nana questioned her about her apathetic attitude towards her peers, Tsuna always responded, 'When I find someone that's not an imbecile, I will converse with them.'

Tsuna had a perchance for a higher vocabulary at that special age.

Nana was not reassured by her daughter's words but nothing could change her mind otherwise. So she just prayed that such a person would appear in Tsuna's life.

That wish would soon be fulfilled, though she wouldn't know of it until years after.


	2. Chapter 1 A Trip to Italy

Chapter 1

Nana was ecstatic.

No, that was hardly the term to describe her properly. She was happily skipping along where ever she went, humming and talking about what to buy for dinner. Flowers popped in the air whenever she was near and her face was frozen in a huge smile that shown like the flaming sun.

All because of him. Iemitsu, Tsuna's father was coming home for a (highly belated) visit.

…

The trip to the airport was uneventful and short. Nana was waiting anxiously for the plane to arrive while Tsuna was standing aloof right next to the still sparkling woman.

The girl sat down beside her mother and having nothing to do decided to take a little nap. She had been to an airport far more times than she could count, and the bustling of the families waiting for their beloved, the luggage's that ran along the smooth marble floor, the calls and loud conversations that erupted around the space; yes she had enough of it for a lifetime.

And what annoyed her the most was that the idiot of a father never tells Nana what plane, from where, only the time when he would arrive. The boards never broadcast what place the plane was coming from, or even if one was coming at all. The man would just show up from behind the walls without any foreshadow, and Nana would accept it just because.

This time wasn't going to be any different. Tsuna laid down beside her mother's feet, head on the hoodie that was attacked to her jacket and closed her eyes. She tuned out the bubbly excitement that came from Nana. Her mother would wake her if the man showed.

She didn't know how long had passed, but her body was well rested and her eyes blearily opened as her mother shook her shoulder. When the man finally arrived, he came with another much older man in tow and a couple of men dressed in black behind him... This was different.

Disregarding the other male, Nana dashed in pure euphoria towards Iemitsu and lunged, hugging the man as if he was her lifeline, which in a way he was.

Giggling, Nana squealed like a 16 year old teenager as she shouted, "Honey, how are you! How long will you be staying? Are you tired?" Question after question was shot in succession while Tsuna stood there sweat dropping at her mother's childish antics.

"It's nice to see you too darling~" Iemitsu laughed back as he grasped Nana. Then, he suddenly snapped his head towards his daughter.

A feeling of dread drenched her body as she internally shivered. 'He had better not—'

Her thought was not completed, as Iemitsu squealed, "TSUNA! My little darling girl. I hope you've behaved while I was gone~ WAIT? What am I saying, I'm sure you've been a good girl, right Nana?" While saying this, he wrapped his masculine arms around her body tightly and lifted her up.

Resisting the urge to slap the man and jump away from his grasp, the suffering girl kept her body still, if only for her mother's joyful smile. Still, the man was incredibly rough and muscular and his goatee scratched her cheeks uncomfortably.

Her head then turned and glanced curiously at the other male that stood beside her father, who was smirking in amusement watching her parents interact. His eyes peered up at her dangling position and he smiled, wrinkles showing on the corners.

She stared at him in confusion. 'Who's he?' she thought. He was weird: he didn't look Japanese, or really even Asian. Neither did the men behind him. His face and mustache reminded her of one of those British detectives on the drama movies Nana liked to watch. The girl bore into his eyes and stared suspiciously.

His eyes showed wisdom and kindness that seemed to warm her heart. They made her feel comforted and safe, a total difference from her father. Yet there was still a tint of something dark; something secretive that he held as a burden and a pride…

Tsuna liked the man already.

"Father—" she started.

"Call me Papa!" he called after stopping his gibberish with her mom.

"… Papa, could you put me down? And who's he?" she asked, pointing with her little chubby finger to the man that was still smiling. She tilted her head cutely in curiosity as Iemitsu brightened.

"Oh! He's my boss from work. He came to visit. You can call him grandpa if you want Tsuna." Grandpa. A foreign word she rarely spoke. Testing it out, she turned to the elderly man and asked, "May I call you grandpa?"

Grinning warmly, he replied yes. Smiling, she nodded at her new name for her father's boss and waved at him. All the while, her annoying father was whining how she didn't 'giggle adorably' at him too.

'Sigh… Useless father' she thought as the group left the airport.

Once the group had arrived at the quaint two floor house the Sawadas resided in, the three adults moved into the kitchen to talk and Nana started preparing a feast for her guests. Tsuna was outside the kitchen doors, eager to leave her never-home father and his curious guest alone.

The grownups were discussing this stuff and that stuff, which wasn't really important to her so she laid herself next on the wall and stared outside of the windows, relaxed.

Window-viewing was one of her more peaceful and calming pastimes. It would have been better if it was really outside, like in a forest or meadow, but she would make do with what she had. The blue sky arched around her and the clouds lazily moving along. The sun was covered by mist so her eyes were shielded from what would have been a bright beam. There was not a nimbus cloud in sight though a light drizzle would have been wonderful now.

Sometimes she wished she was a cloud, or bird, or something that didn't have to stay static on the ground, toiling through their lives just to live. Sometimes she wanted the sun to embrace her in light like it did all other things, and let her feel the warmth of its rays. Sometimes, Tsuna wished that the fairy tales of it raining when god was crying and it was cloudy when he was nervous, and it was sunny when he was happy were true, so she could say things to him and he'd change the weather, so it'd be like she could control the weather.

But that was only sometimes.

The lazy afternoon was lulling her to a soft sleep and she willingly complied to her body's desires. But just as her eyes were about to be shut closed, she heard a voice from the door beside her.

"Honey, how long will you be staying? You didn't answer before…" Nana asked a tint of nervousness in her words.

"Only a week. I'm sorry darling, but boss is a very busy man and I need to go back to work" was the sad reply.

Nana visibly saddened, but brightened up again. "No, it's fine! Let's enjoy this week together." And so she went back to cooking. Nothing else could penetrating her thoughts.

Meanwhile, the other two were in a deep and probably serious conversation.

"… What are you going to do Boss? You're not getting any younger..."

"Are you insinuating I'm old? There are many candidates to choose from… Xanxus as well."

"Xanxus? We both know that he isn't fit, even if he has gained the approval of all others. He doesn't understand famiglia."

"He's still young, give him a chance."

The conversation between the two was becoming more and more incomprehensible. Tsuna pressed her ear to the door to listen to the soft voices on the other side. From what she could pick up in their dialogue, it didn't seem likely that her father was a traffic worker.

_'I mean, what Iemitsu travels around the world barely coming home to his family? Does such a job even need that long periods of time? Mom is so naïve…'_ She sighed. She didn't like her father much. Or at all. He was a rude, boisterous, noisy, muscular man who couldn't pay enough attention on her mom, merely smothering her with affection when he was here. And he wasn't here most of the time anyway, having an affair with the oh-so-beloved work of his.

No, she didn't like him at all. But Nana did, and that was all that mattered at this point.

The abnormal conversation ended as they began talking to Nana.

Just like any child, Tsuna's attention could be diverted quickly and she quickly got out of her brooding mood, now thinking back to the conversation just before.

Carefully contemplating their words, Tsuna was confused. _Famiglia_? She wasn't the smartest of the class… oh who was she kidding. She was the most intelligent of her class and grade. And as far as she knew, famiglia was Italian, like the pizza store her father always talked about.

That furthered her suspicions even more. Referring to the context of which the word it was used, he certainly was not talking about the pizza ship, so it was definitely a real word in Italian and according to the phrase, it was some sort of abstract concept. What traffic worker needed to know Italian?

None.

So therefore, her father was a stinky liar that needed to be put to justice. And while it would be pleasing to see him carried away by the cops, never to return, Nana didn't like that.

…

Her life was rather ordinary, and she was just a five year old; a tiny bit smarter than the other kids her age and older. Anything that didn't catch her attention, she ignored. Didn't all kids have a low attention span fixed within their DNA? However, there was nothing stopping her when her curiosity was piqued. She would get to the bottom of this, even if she had to be very… unethical in doing so.

Smirking deviously, she thought_, 'And my first step will be… hmmm. I think I'll pay a visit to this… Xanxus."_

It was childish she knew, and there was a slight tint of embarrassment that filtered in her mind, but she was a kid. It was allowed. For extra measure, she rubbed her hands together in a sinister manner, grinning.

…

The week was boring. Nana and Iemitsu cuddled and smooched when they thought she wasn't looking, and acting like lovebirds on their wedding anniversary. Still, time passed quickly enough with her conversations with her foster grandpa.

The talks were both interactive and exciting; the things she learned increased as time passed, and now whenever she thought of the old man, a fond feeling would erupt in her mind. It was similar to her mother, but Nana was someone she took granted and there always (or she would make sure of that). Tsuna knew the old man wouldn't visit for long—she knew it both in mind and instinct.

Nevertheless, she enjoyed their time together: the man told her stories of the different places over the world, about his friends—how they were reliable and sometimes like a mother hen to him—they played board games like chess, and even if she always lost, it was fun.

It was fun, but the girl knew he wouldn't be staying long at all. She could tell when he grew pensive and tired, staring into space. Or when he got calls on his cell phone with loud squabbles on the other end.

And she began to understand that the old man was close to her. She had no idea how he had crawled his way into her mind or if he felt the same, but she did know that he would have that special place in her heart for a while. Maybe forever.

Then she grew bitter and sad. She began to wonder why _he_ couldn't have been her father, instead of the current one. If she was just born earlier, or he was born later, then maybe he would've been her father, and he would stay and care for both her and Nana.

As soon as the thought entered her head she quickly thrust it out, a small scowl on her face. She was acting like a brat. And, she reminded herself, Nana was a fall-in-love type of person, who was faithful to one man and one man only. Tsuna could tell Nana loved her father, and that helped the girl hold in the annoyance at just looking at the man's face but it was still irritating.

There was even a time when her idiotic father tried to give her some alcohol the fool. Like hell she would be coerced to drink poison.

So there weren't many good memories of her and her biological father, but she supposed she should be grateful he wasn't some sort of abusive alcoholic that went with other women (at least, there wasn't any make up or perfume on him). He seemed to care and love Nana with all his heart (his eyes always glowed with pride whenever he looked and Nana and her) and that was good enough.

…

Soon, it was time for Iemitsu and the loving grandpa to leave. Nana was smiling as they head for the open doors, even if that smile had a twinge of sadness.

Feeling a bit guilty, Tsuna continued with the plan she had concocted throughout the week. Breathing in, she turned to her father and pleaded, eyes in full puppy dog force and lips pouted cutely, "Papa, can I go t' Italy wit' you? I've a'ways wanted to go…"

Now normally she would have never reverted to such disgusting baby talk, but this was one of the special occasions when she had to ask her father for a favor. The foolish man was in some crazy illusion that she was his 'precious little girl' and her baby talk was normal for her, even if she didn't regularly speak like that and even if she was already five. Iemitsu was a foolish man indeed.

She remembered the numerous times she had used this tactic. Once when she was about a year ago in first grade, where she had to practically bawl and whimper to get him to come home for a visit. Around that time Nana was getting really lonely and although she didn't want to, he would cure his mother's depression.

Then there was the time she started this strange obsession with fantasy games and asked her father, "…Papa, are dragons real?" Back then, she really wished they were.

Not wanting to upset his daughter, the fool said yes. This put him in a tight spot where she asked, "Can I ha' one?" Now the man would never really have found a dragon, so he gave her some man dressed in a dragon costume. Utterly fake and stupid. Her father was convinced she thought the thing was real. That day all her fantasies regarding dragons were ruined, though she still found them beautiful; the sleek emerald green or scarlet red or a cerulean blue scales, along with the way they flew in the air, quickly, efficiently, and majestically…

Anyways this was a time where she would use the, 'adorable baby talk' to convince her easily swayed father to let her go to his workplace and find all she'd want to know about this 'famiglia' and Xanxus.

…

And Iemitsu, the foolish man, with an uncustomary serious expression and almost little hesitation, said softly, "No."

No.

Can you believe it? **NO**.

She was flabbergasted. Never in all her short life had her father refused her the few things she asked for, especially after she laid down her pride for it.

Tsuna resorted to her last plan. Her large doe chocolate eyes widened even more and glistened with unshed tears as she whimpered, "Bu' I only wanted to spen' more time with you Papa. Is tha' too much? I neve' see you, bu' I can stay home if you really wan' me too…" She twisted her head down and added some fake sniffles to seal the deal.

His heart was pounding loudly and Iemitsu felt… bad. Like he kicked an injured puppy; a cute injured puppy that was his pleading, no _begging_ daughter.

He couldn't just refuse could he? Turning his begging eyes towards his boss he asked, "Boss, can she come? Just this once." The man frowned. "Iemitsu, you know that the… mansion does not allow any children, and won't it be dangerous for Tsuna-chan?" Nana pouted and also asked the old man, wanting to spend more time with her husband. After a while (two hours) with Nana, Iemitsu and Tsuna's nonstop begging, the man finally relented.

"So you two will be going?" His boss confirmed, glancing at Nana and her.

Tsuna frowned inwardly. Eyes set in a determined stare she burst out, "I wanna go by myself!" Nana gasped at the exclamation and her eyes glistened with betrayal.

But even the stab of guilt running through her heart would not change her mind. Nana going would just complicate things.

"No! I want to go by myself. I can take care of myself in Italy. You know I love you mom." Tsuna quickly added, hoping to cheer the depressed mother up.

Sniffing and wiping her tears from her eyes, Nana smiled at Tsuna and nodded her head.

Grateful that Nana reacted so well to the news, Tsuna grinned at her mother and reassured her. "I'll only be away for a week Mommy. Right Papa?"

Happy that his daughter actually wanted to spend some father daughter alone time, he nodded and jumped to pack his bags. Nana went to cook dinner and her grandfather went with her father. She was left alone to pack.

…

'Packing, packing, what to pack...' Tsuna was wondering this as she stood in front of her bed with all clothes strewn out. There was a collection of skirts, dresses, bows, headbands and everything else that was an abomination.

Throughout the years, Tsuna's clothing showed many signs of her mother's interference. Nana kept on buying the brightly colored skimpy pieces of fabric she called clothing. She apparently didn't want her daughter to be some sort of 'tomboy' and her t-shirts, baggy pants and the like were thrown out or burned.

Her remaining shirts and pants were few, if none in number and she had salvaged them through begging, persuasion, and more begging.

Tossing in three t-shirts, some of the less girly clothes, pants, socks, undergarments, her i-pod and headphones, water gun (She had an obsession with them every since kindergarten when some stupid boy accidently set her sock on fire. Every since then, she carried a small water gun wherever she went.), a rubber ball, and a large (bigger than the size of her face) encyclopedia.

Nana was most likely going to add a few garments of her choice after she was done packing, so she made sure to fill her suitcase with most other 'weapons' and 'toys' she could find. Finally, she had filled her suitcase to the brim; enough so that it was hard to close (as in she had to sit on the thing to keep it shut), but not too much so that it wouldn't. (But to her dismay, Nana was still able to fit in a frilly skirt.)

The night passed quickly as sleep came to her. She pondered how long this 'curiosity' would last, and what she would find in Italy. Thinking diabolical thoughts, she drifted into a dreamless unconsciousness.

...

Morning was crazy with Nana trying to hide her tears while waving goodbye, Iemitsu keeping near his boss even though he wanted to sit with his 'adorable daughter' and Tsuna sitting with this other boy named Basil. He had light almost hazel colored hair and blue eyes. He had a weird accent; like he was from the Feudal or Meiji era.

'Who uses '_dono_' these days?' she wondered.

On the plane, Tsuna amused herself with the sights seen through the clear window and reading about the various countries the plane passed. It was nice for a while, when she actually saw the details, but once they elevation increased, she saw only clouds and the faint outlines of the different geographies. Soon, her body could no longer hold the strain of her first flight and she fell asleep.

Unbeknownst to her, Iemistsu had shed tears of joy about how cute she was; her head leaning slightly against Basil's shoulder, as well as jealous of the blue eyed boy. Basil just shivered. _'Sawada-dono is frightening when he's with Sawada-hime.'_ he thought. Iemitsu was busy taking turns glaring at the boy and taking pictures of Tsuna.

Twelve hours passed quickly with her asleep and they arrived in Italy somewhere in the afternoon. The sun was glaring up in the sky while Iemitsu woke Tsuna up.

Her eyes half lidded, she rubbed them while tilting her head and asked blearily, "Are we there now?" Smiling at the scene, he nodded his head and they stepped off the plane.

As the old man accompanied by her father walled down the stairs from the plane they were greeted with numerous men in suits, similar to those from before, but these were different. They looked more happy, more relaxed, and wore sunglasses and fedoras and cigarettes and guns. They seemed to look like… mafia? Things were getting more and more queer.

Quickly, the men all bowed and greeted the old man. "Welcome Boss!" It was a sight to see, all men in unison bowing to an 'innocent' old man. 'He's not a mafia boss is he?' Tsuna pondered before being picked up by Iemitsu.

"Let's go to the mansion!" he shouted as they entered an expensive looking black limo.

Once arrived at the large mansion, even more people greeted the old man and her father.

Her eyes grew wide and big as she glanced around at the place. The mansion was large. Their garden looked like a forest, and had dense areas of trees that perched tall in the air. The inside of the mansion was even more impressive than the out; tall columns of a soft creamy color dotted the halls and the floors were made of nice marble.

Exhausted but a bit excited for what was to come, she was led to the kitchen, fed, bathed and fell asleep in a too big bed.

Meanwhile, Iemitsu and the Ninth boss of the Vongola Mafia were in turmoil. They had just been given news that Xanxus was returning for a visit. Why he was coming, or why he came without a note beforehand no one knew. But why he was here, just as Tsuna was visiting, they found it cruel. Everything beneath him was scum, and their cute adorable clever daughter/granddaughter would be no different in his eyes…

'Or would she?' the elderly man contemplated. The small girl would hopefully open the eyes of the grumpy boy he called his son. There was something special about her…


	3. Chapter 2 Xanniichan

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

* * *

><p>Chapter 2: Xannichan<p>

Sawada Tsuna, the-oh so clever five year old girl, was not happy.

She had woken up to a frenzy of wild bullets, screams, whimpers and all the other things that she did not enjoy being woken up by.

Being a lazy (when she could) girl, her amount of sleep was unsatisfactory, and she sported a migraine. Walking out the door after her daily hygiene ritual was completed and a cold towel splashed onto her face, she treaded onto the hallways, migraine still there.

Of course, many people had peered over at her. There were generally no children in the mansion, and a tiny young girl was calmly walking through the corridors as if she owned the place. Maids, servants, subordinates, almost all workers watched her as she glanced through the windows, stared at paintings and just kept walking.

Still, they made no move to stop her. The staff was informed of the girl's visit, and they were prepared for the girl's tantrums and wails that were befitting a young girl in unfamiliar territory. But Tsuna was unnaturally docile and quiet;

However, soon a tapping could be heard through the marble floors. A very familiar _stomping _that made them immediately freeze and bow. Tsuna, still oblivious to the danger as she was absorbed in the valuables that were placed in the marble hallway crashed into a hard surface. It had a distinctly male musky smell to it.

Looking up, she came face to face with a teen with fierce garnet eyes, black hair and what felt to be a permanent scowl etched onto his face.

Startled at the man's frightening animosity towards her when she didn't even know him- though he seemed to be the type to be a jerk to anyone- she decided to play it safe and bowed politely to the still glaring man.

'Is this man Xanxus? He does seem to be unapproachable…' Tsuna thought, her head down.

"Move trash." The man grated out with his foot threatening to kick her and his scowl growing more intense by the second. The other occupants in the area were aware of the incoming disaster and had left early on.

'Would he kick me if I asked who he was?' Taking a risk, she lifted up her head to face the molting glare and quietly whispered, "Are you Xanxus? The candidate for the position of boss?"

It was most likely correct as the man had lowered his foot and his eyes widened a tiny margin in shock.

When his surprise wore off, which wasn't more than a few seconds, his eyes narrowed and he demanded, "Who are you, trash?"

Before she could answer, an all too familiar yell resounded through the halls as she heard her father screaming, "Tsuna! Tsuna! Where are you?" Once Iemitsu had sighted her, he cried in joy and ran up to her, squeezing the life out of the now irritated girl.

"I'm fine fa- Papa. Anyway, who's he?" she asked, pointing to the man whose glare had not simmered down at all.

"Oh him? He's Xanxus, one of the candidates to succeed Boss's position as the Tenth boss." He rushed quickly before giving a nervous smile. "Now, why don't you go play in the garden with the maids? Papa and Grandpa have very important work to do after all…" He advised, sounding more like a command.

Not rushed, Tsuna nodded and turned to the other man. Bowing once more, she smiled at him and stated, "I' was nice t' meet you Xanxus-oniisan. I'm sure that you'll succeed Grandpa. In fact, I'll be' you'll be the best!" With another polite bow, she turned and slowly walked to the other side of the hallway.

Iemitsu could still send her back, and she didn't need that. Therefore, she would be forced to talk like some baby until she left. It would not be fun or stress-free at all.

She left behind a stunned and confused Xanxus, a father screaming out how wonderful his child was, and the migraine that had plagued her since morning. Who would have thought she'd find the scary man so amusing to watch?

Her seven year old mind was in sadistic mode as she imagined all the fun things they could do together. They did seem to both be on the more devious side after all. Yes, she would meet the man again, they would be friends, and finally she would learn all about what her father had hid from her mother all those years.

It would be a very hectic week at the mansion.

Walking along the sides of the hallways, Tsuna let out an unusual smirk as she headed towards what the maids and servants had called, "Xanxus-sama's Room" Of course, the woman had strongly advised her not to go, and only caved when she put the puppy eyes on, but all's fair in war right?

After what felt like an endless amount of minutes, she had finally arrived at the large doors that were the entrance to her vic- target's room.

It; however, frustrated her on how she was too short to pull the handle. She was the shortest one in her class too for pete's sake! It aggravated her to no end…

Shaking the useless thoughts out of her mind, she prepared herself and knocked on the door, making sure she was loud enough, but not too loud that it would be rude. Her response (at least there was one) was a rough grunt and then silence. Frowning, she once again, knocked on the door only louder.

That apparently pissed off the occupant of the room as the doors were swiftly opened by a none too happy Xanxus.

"WHAT?" he growled as he twisted his head to find the cause of his irritation. Finding none, he growled, only to peer down and stare perplexed at the little girl that stood in front of his room smiling and giving a small bow.

"Hello Xanxus-oniisan. It's nice to meet you again. May I come in?" she asked cutely looking up at her specimen.

Frowning in displeasure he sneered, "Leave, trash, before I make you. And what did you call me?" His feet were in ready position to kick at the small thing that was interrupting his time.

Not intimidated the slightest she gave out her puppy dog eyes and pouted. "But I thought you were like my brother. Aren't you?"

Xanxus's eyes twitched as large brown orbs that should not be affecting him did so. The invisible argument that was flashing in between the two was heated. It was funny, really seeing a lanky teen fighting with a child less than half his height.

In a less than a minute, the victor was announced as the black haired male growled and opened the door wider to let the small girl in. He made sure to slam the door after she entered, showing his annoyance at her entry.

Ignoring the stares and glares, she jumped carefully into the soft bed and sat upon it, legs swinging off the bed's end. Tilting her head, she started at the older man who was standing there uncomfortably, though he would never admit it. Ever. Xanxus was _not_ uncomfortable around anyone, and _definitely_ not a mere girl, damn it!

"What do you want, trash?" he bit out.

Again, unfazed with the man's blatant disregard for manners she asked, "Do you want sit down?" It was a random question that had popped up in her head as the man looked pretty uncomfortable. _'And I did take his bed after all.'_

And so, she asks the random question while patting the spot on the large bed next to her. Sneering at her he replied, "And why should I you little piece of-". His outflow of words was stopped as she performed her famous puppy eye pout.

Growling, he quickly strode towards the spot beside her and thumps himself down.

"What do you want, trash?" he sighed trying to put up the effort in glaring. Sadly, it was failing ridiculously. Who would have thought such a man would be so weak to those special eyes of hers?

Smiling cutely she stated, "Why are you a candidate for boss?" Xanxus hot red at hearing this was going to start yelling when she continued. "I know Xanxus-oniisan is smart, strong, handsome and stuff, but do you have any relation to Grandpa?"

Xanxus couldn't help but let the corners of his mouth tilt in a small smirk, before it disappeared in an instant, replaced by the usual gnarl.

With an indignant snort he stated, "I'm the man's son."

Blinking in surprise, she put a finger up to her chin in thought. It didn't occur to her that her actions were just too cute.

"I see… Does that mean you'll be the future boss? If not, it's okay. I'm sure you'll get another great position." She wondered aloud.

Not pleased at all by this, Xanxus was going to kick the trashy girl when again; his actions were interrupted as she continued on with her monologue.

"Wait, does this mean you're my uncle? If you're Grandpa's son, you would be like Iemitsu's brother and my uncle so should I call you Xanxus-ojisan?"

Her face was scrunched up in thought as she tried to decide what to call him. Xanxus-niisan sounded much better than ojisan, but the teen looked like the type that demanded respect for even a bit of relationship to begin, and she did oh so want a relationship with him.

She snapped out of her pondering moment when Xanxus grunted out, "Call me what you called me before. That's good enough, scum."

With a bright and cute smile she chirped, "Okay, Xan-niichan."

The man was irked at her obvious change in his nickname, when he specifically… "Che. Whatever, trash." He was most definitely not giving because he knew he would lose. No, he was merely letting a whiney girl have her way before she started to cling to him. (And the girl's father would never allow him to damage the thing.) The poor delusional fool.

He also didn't realize that she would start clinging to him either way, and he would get used to it, maybe even finding solace in the annoying girl.

...

The rest of the day was spent playing around in his room while the teen was working. (Translation: She was staring at him while he sat on the bed reading, glaring at her, and yelling out orders.)

Sooner or later, she grew bored and lazily asked, "Hey Xan-niichan, why are you so busy? Is there a lot of work to be the boss of a traffic company?" There was nothing wrong with saying that right? Iemitsu told her he was a traffic worker, and technically, she would think this, so technically it wouldn't be her fault it he broke a chair or two. It was cute when he did it before.

Sputtering in rage he yelled, "WHAT? Trash, this isn't a company for damn TRAFFIC. This is the famous Vongola Mafia."

Eyebrows raised in faux confusion, she repeated, "Mafia? Iemitsu said he was a traffic worker at construction sites…"

"He was lying" Xanxus said calmly, holding a gun out. It was sleek and shiny; a nice black shade that stimulated her eyes. "See this? It's real. I'm a candidate for the tenth Vongola Mafia boss." The gun he held shot out bullets in succession and shot into the wall, creating a rough outline of the Varia Symbol.

The normally apathetic girl's eyes shimmered in excitement and admiration, gleaming like a cat at the weapon he held in his hands. "….So cool!" The man puffed up in pride and she begged, pulling on the sleeves of his jacket, "Can you teach me?"

Now normally he would tell the person to fuck off and kick them, but it was her, the girl he wasn't allowed to kill or order; the one that didn't seem to cower at his feet, so the only thing he could say was… "No."

"…"

Tsuna was devastated. "Why?" she moaned, glaring at the male. Xanxus merely snorted and sneered, "You think I'm going to waste my time on you, trash? You're nothing. Nothing but scum."

Tsuna wasn't a regular girl, but there was a limit to what she could take. If this was a man she wouldn't bother about, she'd ignore him. But Xanxus wasn't that. He was different. His past words to her had been harsh, yet these seemed to pierce her tiny heart. He was saying she was useless, of no importance, just one weak link he was forced to bear to the remainder of her stay. She was NOT useless…

Ejecting these negative thoughts about herself, Tsuna couldn't bear it anymore. She did what any 5 year old would have done: she cried. Large tear droplets formed on her eyes, blurring her vision as they continued to silently roll off her cheeks. This was the first she had cried since she was a babe.

Yes, it was stupid. Yes, she was acting like a selfish child. Yes, it's not like Xanxus was the type to make others feel better. But it still hurt a bit. She might've just been too tired, and it affected her emotionally, making her more susceptible to the dangers of tears and bawling.

She made no sound— no, it was a silent sort of crying. Her expression had not changed, only fixed into one of apathy. Not a sound; a whine; a sniff had come from her mouth. Yet her eyes had shown with… something that drew the frowning man to her. It spoke words, feelings that he had never realized a child could create. Guilt panged his already cracked soul.

Finally, with a sigh he gave in. "… It won't be easy. You better be ready to go to hell, trash."

Tsuna immediately looked up into his eyes, searching for the truth in his words. After finding what she looked for, her lips lifted into a smile and she laughed, her giggles sounding like the rings of wind chimes.

"Ok." She nodded her head in agreement and grinned cutely. Unknowingly, Xanxus's face grew soft before he growled and turned his head away.

And so, she prepared herself for what would be the most gruesome of training sessions in her life, not that she ever had any.

But this was what a man should be. He was an ideal for her: cold, strong, smart, rugged looking, commanding, and a gunner. Xanxus was interesting, unlike her own smothering father. If there were more people like him, her like would never fall into boredom again. Maybe others would gravitate to him and she would be able to join the fray of chaos that was sure to follow the teen.

That night, she fell asleep in her new adoptive brother's room with the hesitant Xanxus sleeping right beside her. This was attributed to the fact that she had said she couldn't sleep by herself. (Which was partially true considering she enjoyed sleeping beside her mother when a guest came and her room was taken.) "Good night Xan-niichan." She murmured. He replied with an uncomfortable huff.

She had also totally forgotten about her father, who was frantically yelling orders to find his daughter, who could not be found anywhere.

It was a peaceful night for the duo in bed.

Sadly for Iemitsu, he didn't get much sleep. He had only found the location of his missing daughter when some maid had told him that she went to Xanxus's room. Terror filled him at what the teen could do to his poor daughter. It was like handing a bunny to a ravenous wolf!

With all his remaining energy, he ran to the teen's room and opened the doors to see… his daughter and the vile man sleeping together! He did what a rational (or irrational) man would do. He blew.

"TSUNA! TSUNA MY DAUGHTER! THE VILE BOY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING BAD TO YOU DID HE?" he shouted at the top of his lungs, startling the two awake and irritated.

That seemed to something they had in common, as they both did not like their beauty rest interrupted by some worried male.

Tsuna groggily shook her head with a splitting headache. The man beside her glared at the unneeded alarm clock. "WHAT THE HELL, TRASH!" Said 'trash' ignored the angry man and turned to his daughter who was still trying to fully wake up. "Tsuna, I was so worried about you! Tell Papa whenever you need to go somewhere okay?"

When she finally cleared up enough to comprehend his words, she sighed and agreed. "Okay… Papa. Then today can I spen' some time wit' Xan-niichan?" She let her eyes widen and glow.

Iemitsu seemed adamant at refusing, but a few seconds of puppy eyes and he relented, leaving the two in the room with a dark glare at the man that stole her attention from him.

Since they couldn't exactly fall asleep even at that ungodly hour when the sun wasn't up yet, the two got up and brushed their teeth along with their other daily rituals with minimum talking.

As soon as she regained all of her consciousness Tsuna remembered yesterday's words and grinned.

"You're going to teach me about guns right?"

"…" He didn't answer, so she assumed it a 'sure'.

The walk down to the underground training grounds was supposed to be quiet. Then again, the gods were never that merciful.

"VOOOOOI! Boss, is that you? Who's the brat next to you?"

"..."

"BOSS! I couldn't wait to see you!"

"Ushishishi. The Prince has come for a visit."

"Bossu~ I see you're just as handsome and before~"

A crowd of men came up to the 'boss' with their own… unique sense. The ages in the group were also different. There was a blonde child with hair that covered his eyes—the one with the really high pitched giggle, an infant wearing some purple hat that covered his eyes, a tall teen dressed strangely with sunglasses and a strange white haired sharky teen that kept on yelling, "VOI"… It was indeed a strange group.

Wanting to know who the people were, Tsuna pulled Xanxus's jacket, bringing his attention to the waiting girl, which in turn brought everyone's attention to the strange girl that was with their boss. Even the money-obsessed infant.

"Xan-niichan, who are these people?" Tsuna asked. Those words excited a gasp from all. 'Xan-niichan?' was the collective thought. No one ever called _him_ anything other than Xanxus, Xanxus-sama or Boss. Just who was this girl?

A grunt and Xanxus muttered, "The white guy's Squalo, tall guy's Lussuria "Call me Luss-neechan~" the squinty spiky haired guy is Leviathan, the infant's Mammon and the blonde's Belphegor.

It took a few seconds for Tsuna to process the information. Finally, she gave a smile, bowed and greeted the group. "Hi Squal-niichan, Luss-neechan, Levi-niichan, Mamm-kun, Bel-kun. It's nice to meet you all. My name is Sawada Tsuna but please call me Tsuna." Her introduction finished, she turned to Xanxus and pulled him forward, wanting to go. These people, while interesting as they were, weren't really worth her time considering she could be playing with guns now.

The group all had different reaction towards the polite child. Squalo considered her a brat at left it at that, though it was amazing how Xanxus wasn't killing her yet. Lussuria was pleased. Levi didn't exactly like her so close to his boss.

"…"

The teen glared suspiciously at her, attempting to get her away from his boss. Tsuna found it funny how such a scary person seemed to talk only to protect his position with his 'boss'. Levi's view of her changed after she commented, "Levi-niichan seems like a really good person for Xan-niichan! Like his right hand man or something!" Levi's view of her changed into one of a precious little girl as he basked in joy at the compliment, not that he showed it.

Mammon was neutral. The blonde just grinned maniacally. "Ushishishishi. Call me Prince, peasant."

Tsuna hmmed. "But Bel-kun, you look so kawaii! Too cute for a prince is what I think…" She pondered these thoughts while staring at Belphegor. The seven year old boy held a dark blush while he turned his head and held a soft grin. "Ushishishi."

They had held her attention long enough, but Tsuna was getting bored. "Xan-niichan. Are we going to train now?" Xanxus grunted and the two continued down the hallways.

Her question lid a bomb that exploded in about a second as there was an outburst. "WHAT?" Squalo questioned with wide eyes, "VOOOOI! Boss, is it really true? Are you really going to train the brat?"

Xanxus's answer was a grunt as he shot his bullets at Squalo. Doing so caused Tsuna to stare with glimmering eyes. "So cool!"

Silence slammed down the area. The Varia members gave in to indifference, but all were somewhat amused by the girl's obsession. Belphegor's laugh startled the silence into another moment of noise. "Ushishishi. The prince wishes to see the princess train." His demand was followed with a "Luss-neechan too!" "I will follow Boss too!" "VOI! I'll watch."

What was a small pair changed into a group of six. All the newest visitors went along. Even Mammon, who thought of it as a great way to get some information.

Once the group reached the underground training grounds, Xanxus turned to Tsuna and asked, "Trash, do you know how to use a gun. Hell, do you even have a gun?" Squalo huffed, "Fucking Boss, do you think this brat has a fucking gun?"

His comments angered the already a bit irritated man and so Squalo had to then avoid a couple of bullets that would have killed him. Tsuna yawned at them, though her eyes were sparkling again…

"I have a water gun…" she added.

A few seconds of silence penetrated the usually dystopian group and soon they were laughing their heads off. Tsuna pouted. "Not funny! What would happen if someone set your socks of fire? A bullet doesn't take out fires you know."

"You'll kill the trash before they do anything to you, trash." Xanxus snorted. Pouting even more, Tsuna just harrumphed and stuck her tongue out childishly. "Whatever, Xan-niichan."

Another snort followed her, and sooner (or later), Xanxus and another mafia person Xanxus said was from their Varia group taught her all the mechanics of a gun, loading, shooting, cleaning, aiming, and more. The rest stood and watched for a while before leaving one by one.

This went on for the whole week. Miraculously, Iemitsu (who was still whining) was too busy to actually be in contact with his daughter. The remaining days were of her getting up, training, eating, training, conversing with the other member of what they called the 'Varia', training, and sleeping. It was like a vacation/boot camp. Every day she went to sleep with bruises, scratches, and all the other lovely injuries she sustained. Her injuries were thankfully well hidden through her clothes. No black eyes or anything of that sort.

Training was harsh and heavy. Mornings were jogging (running away from bullets that were aimes precociously close to her back), learning how to use guns, and eating. Afternoons were history of the Vongola and Varia, knowledge of different guns, learning Italian (she could now speak very choppy, simple Italian and has multiple thick books of the Italian language), and Dying Will Power.

They considered it a major part of the Vongola group, and the girl might be able to use it, even if it was merely just a small flicker that would light out immediately, it would grow as she grew older. Evenings were (again) training, jogging, etc. Nights were meant for resting.

Tsuna enjoyed the whole thing. Really. Just maybe she didn't really like the lack of sleep, pain, lack of sleep, lack of sleep and other things that came with it. She did, (at least she should) improve her use of guns, aim, strength, stamina and all the basic things critical to a mafia. In fact, she grew used to the foreign idea that her father was the advice-man for Granpa, and that Xanxus was a contestant for the role of future leader. Of course, there were the sad parts where Xanxus would leave the Varia and Squal-niichan would be the new leader, but that was fine.

Vacation (if it can be called that) was finally over as the week passed. Tsuna was at the airport with her bags saying goodbye to her brothers. "Sayonara Xan-niichan, Squal-niichan, Lussuria-neechan, Bel-kun, Levi-niichan, Mamm-kun. Will I ever see you again?" she asked, looking at them sadly.

She didn't want to do was cry at their last meeting together. One thing she learned training with the group was that they didn't like tears. 'Xan-niichan would act really weird and nice to me, Levi-niichan would pamper me, Squal-niichan would curse and turn away, Mamm-kun would give me candy, Bel-kun would say, "Ushishishi. The princes demands you to stop.", Luss-neechan would hug me. I wonder why all assassins seem to be weak to tears... Embarrassing I think.'

So with hands rubbing her tear stricken eyes she sniffled and looked up at the people she called her brothers.

"This won't be our last meeting, _houhei_." Xanxus said his face turned away from the confused girl. "Huh?" was Tsuna's confused response.

A huff and he answered, "If we ever fly near Japan, we'll visit."

Those words, along with the fact that she had just received her first sort-of compliment from her brother made her feel much better. Sniffing one last time she whispered. "Really?" Puffy red eyes peered up at her brother. A small blush could be identified.

He grunted.

Joyously she ran up to the red faced man and literally threw herself on him, hugging his leg. Surprised, he turned his head away. Xanxus hugged no one.

That rule now had an exception. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around the tiny sister he had. The two were emotionally connected by a small hug. All feelings of joy, acceptance, even love was expressed through that contact.

The special moment was broken by a loud squeal, murmurings and a cry of outrage.

"Aww~ Boss and Tsu-chan look so cute together~"

"VOOOI! Never knew the fucking boss was so touchy."

"Ushishishi. The prince finds this amusing."(Yet there was a tick mark on his head.)

"NOOOOOO~ TSUNA, MY BELOVED DAUGHTER! HOW CAN YOU HUG SUCH A MAN! STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER YOU VILE BEAST!" Iemitsu yelled, pulling Tsuna away from the man he named the worker of Satan that wanted to corrupt his innocent daughter.

He suffocated his daughter possessively and Tsuna didn't like it one bit. Her face was turning purple and she squirmed in his grasp. "I-Iemitsu let go!" "WHAT? CALL ME PAPA!" the father whined, reluctantly letting his daughter go. Breathing in the air hungrily she glared at Iemitsu and sighed.

"Goodbye everybody. Goodbye Iemitsu." "CALL ME PAPA~~~" the man (once again) whined. Tsuna let herself forget the presence of the man and smiled at her brothers. With one last glance she boarded the plane headed for Japan, the bodyguard next to her. Iemitsu settled for crying about his daughter's departure and glaring at Xanxus. All the others just looked strangely at the head of the CEDEF.

It was nighttime when Tsuna returned home, only to be grasped into the bear hug of her mother. "Tsu-chan…. I missed you a lot. Are you okay? Did you like your stay there? Mama missed you a lot… sniff." Bombarded with the millions of questions by her mother, Tsuna just slowly patted her mother's back.

Feeling a whole lot guiltier about leaving her mother alone, she spent the rest of the night acting like a normal clingy 5-year old daughter would. Call it a present or reward, for her mother lasting so long by herself.

Her room was still familiar, not that it wouldn't be with only a week away from home, but it was comforting and different than the beds (she shared with her different brothers) in Italy.

Her lone body slipped into the small bed next to the window and she stared outside at the dark sky filled with what looked like burnings diamonds which penetrated the blackness. She would admit it: she had grown accustomed to sleeping with another, and the lack of a source of heat left her empty. The warmth received when crushed against another body was addicting, comforting, almost like a father that was never there.

Closing her eyes, she snuggled in the blankets and thought, _'I'm glad to be back home.'_

Her tired body finally collapsed and she drifted to peace.

* * *

><p>AN: I hope you liked it. Please review, either giving tips or compliments. This is an (second) edit, so hopefuly the characters are less OOC than before. Hopefully... Edits still can be edited after all.

Houhei means gunner


	4. Chapter 3 Here Comes Reborn

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: Here Comes Reborn<p>

Six years of torture was something Tsuna had never appreciated. After a week of utter excitement and training, going back to the monotonous days of school and reading was…. boring. And even then, the small, _small_ lazy side of her had not disappeared despite her minor adventures in Italy.

Second grade was boring. Recess times spent reading books in Italian (she bought with her meager allowance) weren't as fun as the times her brothers had taught her Italian. They made sure she remembered words, structures, everything including history and if she passed, they would bring her sightseeing. Worse, if she failed, that meant more torture. It was exhilarating.

Her classmates were as boring and foolish as ever. She never paid attention in class, though she did study at home when she had the time (and she always did.) Gym was boring, so she barely contributed. Watching kids fall, scrape a knee and cry over the minor wound was plain irritating. Tests were what she considered a waste of her time and never even bothered with them. Basically everything was boring as hell and not worth her time or effort.

The rest of her years in elementary school weren't much better. Classmates were still stupid, foolish and boring. Girls cared only about 'hot guys'. Guys loved 'chicks', games and other not noteworthy things. Because of her apathetic nature, her classmates considered her a perfect gopher and bully magnet. Not like it mattered to her. In fact, one of her more exciting pastimes was getting back at the various bullies, though they would never know it was her. Aiko-san never knew who pasted her panties with her name on them in the male locker room. Tachibana-san couldn't figure out who had sent him the box of chocolates that had laxatives in them. Yamato-san tried to find out who had told others of his secret love of dolls and dresses. God it was embarrassing. And it was fun.

Elementary school passed in slow motion. Training went on even if the Varia weren't there. It was, of course in secrecy. This included the basement, attic, and closet. She had even installed a hidden compartment in the attic where she kept her guns, when her mother went to some party with friends (Nana begged Tsuna to attend, but Tsuna denied still.)

It seemed the only fun times were of the occasional visits from the Varia. Xanxus was as easily irritated as normal, and everybody didn't seem to change much. They did help her conti her training and Italian speech. Tsuna's Italian grew superb, her aim perfect and her knowledge of curse words extended. But after around two years, they stopped comming; not a single phone call or visit, so she wouldn't know how they looked like, or they had changed at all. They probably have, considering their age now.

Tsuna on the other hand, experienced puberty to its fullest. Her breasts had grown bigger, so much that she preferred to cover it with wrappings; her body became more shapely and round. Brunette locks grew so much she had to tie it in a low ponytail. Nana's hold on her clothing diminished over time, so much that she had a whole dresser full of baggy pants, and other 'manly' clothes.

The start of middle school had begun. Unfortunately, it was no different than before. Even her nickname of 'Dame-Tsuna' had stuck. Tsuna transferred to Namimori middle school, but nothing really changed. Bullies still came and the sad thing was that there was some prefect that 'bit people to death', so she most likely would not be able to deal some punishment with the person there.

_'It was Hibori Kyoya? Hobari Kyoya? Hibari? Yeah, it was Hibari. Hibari Kyoya. Who in the world bites people the death? Isn't that unsanitary? Whatever.'_ Because of some guy who wants to protect his 'precious' school, her list of things she could've in revenge were shortened a whole thirty pages! Public torture/embarrassment and others were excellent revenge methods.

The Hibari guy, did however, give her some other options. Seeing the bully bitten to death by the black haired prefect was candy to her soul.

Anyways, the point was that there was basically no difference in her life in middle than in her elementary years.

And to top that all off, her brothers still had not come. She trusted them. She trusted them enough to place her faith in their promises and words. They might have just been busy with another big mission, yet it was fraying her nerves. Without them, her solitary life only seeped even further into isolation.

Perhaps it would be a good thing then, since a new storm would burst his way through into her life. A particularly small and violent one.

…

Sicily, Italy:

In a far away bar, the sweaty air was heavy with tension. A group of men with the customary frown, black suits and cigarettes surrounded a small infant wearing a black fedora with an orange stripe. On the rim of his hat sat a chameleon.

"…It's Reborn. Looks like you were called by the old man again." A man commented, taking a smoke.

"Must be tough being popular. Going to Roma next? Venezia?" another questioned.

"Giappone" the infant answered, a calm air surrounding him. The word excited a gasp from the men. "WHAT?"

"The old must've finally made up his mind" was the conclusion.

With a tip of his fedora the infant named Reborn said aloud, "Looks like it's going to be a long journey." Almost as if he was talking to himself.

…

Namimori, Japan:

Another typical day in Tsuna's life was in motion as school had ended. Tsuna spent her time reading numerous books in her room while devising countless revenge plans in her 'Book of Retributive Authority' aka 'BRA'. Life was great.

All of a sudden, Nana burst in the room, her aura of naïve following her in.

"Tsu-chan! Don't you ever bring in any friends?" she whined, hands to her hips. Sighing, Tsuna rolled over on her bed and moaned, "It's not like I have any you know." Her mother's random outbursts in the middle of the day weren't rare, but even after 14 years with Nana, she still hadn't gotten used to them. She needed the privacy and peace.

Stomping her foot in childish anger Nana complained. "You can live your entire life bored like you are right now, or live happily. I want you to life feeling, "It's great to be alive!" She ended with her hands flung out and a cheerful expression probably only she could create.

Sweat dropping at the foolish words that were spoken from her mother's mouth Tsuna sat up and started organizing her collection of toy water guns and some real (though no one would know due to the paint on them) guns.

"Oh my…" Nana frowned at her daughter's actions. A light bulb flashed on her head and she grinned sneakily.

"Tsu-chan~ a home tutor is coming today."

A pause before Tsuna tilted her head. "Home tutor?" she asked lazily. Nana pouted. "Oh Tsu-chan. You ruin all my fun~ Anyway, there was an interesting flyer in the mailbox." She held out a flyer and began to read out. "…Will raise your kid to be the new leader of the next generation. Grade and subject doesn't matter. Reborn." With a beaming smile she exclaimed, "Isn't that great? I've never seen a promotion like this before."

Tsuna perked up at the name. 'Reborn… familiar, though I don't remember where… Meh, I'll remember later I suppose.'

"Mom, it smells like a scam…" she spoke, only to be ignored by the still excited woman. "It's probably a tutor from a professional business for young students. I've always wanted a teacher like this for you!"

Sighing at her mother's overactive imagination she sighed, "Please don't create your own image of him… I mean-"

"Ciaossu."

Both occupants of the room froze and wondered where the extra voice came from. Turning her face downwards, she found a… infant? And eerily similar to Mammon at that. 'Ciaossu? Is that supposed to be a mix of Italian and Japanese?' Tsuna thought, staring at the baby with a black orange striped fedora on his hat. _'And… is that a chameleon. Why the hell does he have a chameleon?'_

"Excuse me, but who are you and how did you get in here?" she asked politely. After all, she had a feeling he wasn't what he seemed; he was something similar to Mammon. And if that was true, then it was best to be extra careful.

The baby turned to Tsuna. ". Tsunayoshi Sawada. Age 13. Often called Dame-Tsuna by everyone, fails at any sport and test. I am Reborn, you're new tutor" Reborn was turning more and more suspicious by the moment. _'Just who is he?'_ she wondered.

"Maman, may I have dinner?" the baby asked Nana. The woman's stunned status lasted for only a second as her shock turned to a smile. "Okay! The contract does state that Reborn-kun will be living with us until Tsu-chan's grade goes up!" She went to the kitchen preparing Reborn's dinner humming some song. It sounded vaguely like, "My Tsu-chan will finally…" Giggling could be heard after that… _'Mothers.'_ Tsuna shivered.

It left just Reborn and Tsuna in the room.

The baby wasted no time. "My true work of line is assassination. My real job is to make you a mafia boss."

Like a lightning strike, her memory bureau fished his name out of the million other files. 'Reborn, the sun arcobaleno. The world's strongest hitman and the most trusted of the Ninth… Wait WHAT?' Her mind spins in confusion and she narrows her eyes.

"Reborn, why did you choose someone like me to become the… boss? Aren't there any other candidates?" she asked carefully. She knew she was a candidate, but what about the others?

Now Reborn narrowed his eyes and a gun went to her face. "You are very calm about this. Why?"

With a lazy sigh she answered, "If you had your information right, you would know that I visited Italy once when I was little. Of course I would know about the Vongola. After all, I did meet the Ninth."

The hitman's curiosity was (for now) sated, though he knew she was still hiding something. What he did know was that he _would_ find out.

Another sigh and Tsuna smiled, giving her hand out. "I'm sure you'll be with me for a long time, so why don't we shake on it? I hope we'll get along Reborn." Reborn shot his gun and various bullets were heading straight at Tsuna. On instinct, she dodged the bullets with ease.

"Or not" she added, peering at the stray bullets.

"It seems my data is wrong after all." Reborn commented before jumping on and settling himself on her hair. "… Do I want to know why you're on my hair?" she asked.

"It's comfy" was his only reply.

"…"

"…"

"Meh. Whatever." She then trotted to the dinner table. So focused on the food, the faint smirk on Reborn's face went unnoticed.

Dinner passed, and it was time to sleep. Tsuna got out of the shower, a towel wrapped around her wet body. Her eyes found the baby… in her bed? Surrounding the bed were… traps (Bombs?) _'Just great, now I get my bed stolen'_ was her immediate displeasure. Reborn seemed to be sleeping, but he had his eyes open… A bubble snapped with a pop.

It was good enough for her. Dropping the towel covering her assets, she went to her closet, wrapped her chest up, and put on some undergarments.

Reborn didn't respond.

Bypassing the traps quickly, she stepping into her bed and she pulled the covers over her body, hugging the infant close to her like a pillow. He was so warm...

The night went undisturbed and for Tsuna, Reborn was something close to a little brother, or at least a useful heat source.

…

Morning:

"Tsu-chan! Tsu-han! You're going to be late for school Tsu-chan!"

Nana's voice rang in her head and Tsuna got up groggily, "Yeah, I'm up I'm up." Sighing, she turned next to her, expecting to see a baby. There was nothing there. "Up here Dame-Tsuna." The voice was coming from somewhere above so… That was when she noticed the extra weight on her head. Tilting up, she noticed the small baby atop of her head. "Are you really going to be staying there?" She received no answer. Nothing but a sharp kick on the head.

"Gruhh." She grunted as the foot landed on her head and she clutched it in pain. It was too early for this and her head was ringing.

"Why'd you do that?" she demanded, glaring at him from below.

"A mafia boss must always be ready" he responded.

Sighing, she got ready for school and walked out the door with a wave. "Bye Mom." "Bye Tsu-chan!" her mother called after her.

The sun was high, the sky was a clear blue, and yet Tsuna somehow had a bad feeling. She ignored it, but kept note of it. She continued walking, only to see Kyoko and some other group of girls. Ignoring the other girls that were frowning at her, she smiled at Kyoko.

"Good morning Sasagawa-san." She waved.

"Oh, hello to you too, Sawada-chan! Hey," she noticed Reborn on Tsuna's head. "Oh, how cute! Who are you?" she squealed.

"I'm Reborn, the world's best hitman!" Reborn answered proudly in his innocent, childish voice.

"Oh, I see. I was like that when I was young." the girl smiled before the other females pulled her away. "We should go now. It's better to stay away from Dame-Tsuna, Kyoko-chan. Besides, Mochida-sempai is waiting for you~" With a frown, Tsuna waited for the other girls to walk by before continuing onwards.

"So, you like her?" the baby atop her head replied.

"What- no! She's just one of the less idiotic people in this school. A bit naïve, but nothing else wrong with her. It's just that Mochida is not someone I would allow her to be with. That playboy..." Tsuna ended with a feral growl.

"I would warn her, but her friends would just tell her to ignore my words. I am 'Dame-Tsuna' after all. It'd be a waste of my time." She regained control of her emotions quickly.

"What an amazing inferiority complex you have there." Reborn comments.

"I do not have an inferiority complex Reborn, it's just that there's no use trying when my efforts will be put to waste."

"Then die."

BANG

A bullet shot out, and by her instinct, she moved out of the way. "Damn it Reborn, fine, I'll do it! Hey wait… That bullet…"

Bending down, she picked up the bullet that was stuck to the ground. "Hey, isn't this the Dying Will Bullet! Damn it Reborn, don't try to kill me! Anyways, I already know how to do Dying Will Mode. I try not to though."

Reborn's face twitched a centimeter. "Hey, are you… annoyed? …Well, whatever. I should find Sasagawa-san lest you try to harm me…"

Reborn still didn't know how she knew about the Dying Will Bullet, or god forbid if she could really use it, but it had to do something with the week to Italy… It didn't matter, for now he knew that his student was on her way to become the tenth.

It didn't mean that she couldn't improve though…

And with a smirk, he jumped off his student's head and went to her school. Smokin' Bomb Hayato should be here today…

Tsuna head straight for the school, only to see Mochida and some girl with him. _'The bastard… Better get this over with.'_

"Mochida-san! Can I ask you something?" she called out lazily, interrupting what was going to be a kiss. Said man turned and sneered at the girl. "What do you want Dame-Tsuna?" Taking in a breath, she spoke, "Mochida-san, is it true that you want to date Sasagawa Kyoko?"

"What's it to you?" he retorted nastily.

"Well, I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to bother her, seeing you already have another girl…" Tsuna gives a pointed stare at the girl beside him. The long haired brunette gaped at her words and turned to stare at Mochida, a hint of betrayal detected in the brown orbs.

"I-Is that true Mochida-san?" Tears were forming in her eyes making the other cuss out. Mochida then wrapped his arms around her waist in what was supposed to be a comforting hug.

_'…Tch, the player'_

"You know that's not true, and why would believe her? She's Dame Tsuna" he whispered into the girl's ear. Once the whimpers and sniffing stopped, he turned to the now extremely bored female and snarled, "You bitch!"

Tsuna twitched at his words. No one ever called her a bitch. She was most definitely neither a whore nor a female dog, the bastard. Giving out a small sadistic smirk she stepped forward and the now slightly terrified (though he didn't know why) boy. Cracking her knuckles, she was about to start her punishment when some random passerby came near. Seeing Dame-Tsuna beating up the 'handsome' Mochida in an alley really wouldn't help her.

She moaned in frustration. The one chance she could actually use some of the moves she learned was destroyed. Sigh. A hand was slowly raised up to check the time on her water and fire proof watch. Then she gasped.

Grimacing, she quickly started to run to the school barking out to the bastard, "I'm warning you, stay away from Sasagawa you pervert!" Her last agenda met, she started running full force.

* * *

><p>AN: I'm not sure if I ended it the right way... Whatever. Anyways, hope you liked it. Review. Do all the nice things I like please... I've edited it, only a few minor errors and fixes though...

And edited again. Jan. 4th


	5. Chapter 4 A New Subordinate

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

* * *

><p>Chapter 4: A New Subordinate<p>

_'Thank the heavens and any other god for this miracle.' _She was not late. (She ran as fast as she could, reaching the school right before the bell rang.) Opening the doors to her class, she strode to her seat, plopped down and put her head down in the position of a nap.

When the teacher came in she sighed in agony. He was not her favorite (not like she had one): her math teacher Mr. Nezu. The guy (who she suspected was a fraud but had no proof) was claimed to have graduated at some elite school. He was eternally biased towards the more failing students, herself included. The man didn't even let her sleep before lecturing on and on about her grades. And what type of teacher announces the worst grades aloud in the class? A horrible teacher and worse human being.

"Class, today we will be receiving a new transfer student from abroad. His name is -" his words were covered by the loud slam of the door as a boy came in.

He had the stereotypical bad boy look with skulls that adorned his attire. Silver (or grey) hair with green eyes and a mean frown (that could never compete with her brother's.) Italian. And by her now jogged up memory, Smokin' Bomb Hayato.

'What in the world is Smokin' Bomb Hayato doing in Japan?' was her only shocked thought. She had a feeling it had something to do with Reborn and her 'future position as the tenth' but she could be wrong. He was rumored to be of no family after all, and there were more mafia-related people in the city than just her.

By his (extravagant) entrance, the guys moved away from the glare and the girls squealed. It was certain that by the end of the day, a new fanclub would be created. _Females._

His glare then moved around the room until it landed on her. He stared straight at her and ignored the teacher. His glare intensified and he yelled out, "You aren't fit to be the tenth boss of the Vongola family! It will be me!"

Tsuna gaped, incredulous.

_'Oh god no. Please don't tell me there are even stupid people in the mafia. How can he just blurt out mafia families in a normal high school?'_ With a heavier sigh, she put her head face down and closed her eyes away from her new problem.

"Gokudera-san, please sit to the seat next to Dame-Tsuna. Sawada-san, please raise your hand." Moaning, she ignored the bastard's words.

"SAWADA-SAN!" Nezu yelled, though it didn't matter because Gokudera didn't even listen to the raving man. Instead, he walked up right in front of her and kicked the desk to the side.

Sensing his move, Tsuna slid my chair back, avoiding the incoming desk. Staring straight at him, she sighed, fixed her desk and placed her face on it. She could care less about him. And she would.

Face turning red in anger, Gokudera growled and sat down next to her, his glare never leaving. _'…What a bother.'_

Class ended quickly enough and Tsuna got up, hoping to leave before anything bad happened. It wasn't quick enough, as the new student blocked the exit and sneered. "You're a weakling, not fit to be the tenth. I challenge you to a fight!" With that, he stomped away as if he hadn't said anything.

His mini speech had *thank god* not taken much time and Tsuna quickly strode out the classroom doors only to come face to face with some guy from the kendo club. She groaned.

_'Why, God? Why do you prevent me from going to my own home? Do you hate me so much? Did I do anything wrong in my life? ARE YOU OUT TO GET ME?'_ Tsuna was having a very stressful day, and it seemed the only release was blaming the holy being residing up in heaven.

So caught up in her own demise she didn't hear the man talking. Snapping her face to him she grunted, "Please repeat what you just said."

Her face was probably scary right then because the boy cowered and stuttered, "M-Mochida-sempai has challenged you to a kendo fight. P-Please come with me…" Her stress just increased.

_'God. Seriously, you must hate me. What is it with men and challenges? It's like a game to prove who's manlier or something. Wait that's actually be true…'_ Disgusted by her truthful thoughts she swiftly shook herself and followed the frightened boy to the gymnasium.

At the center stood Mochida in his badass stance with a large crowd surrounding the fighting area. The noise from cheering, laughing and the overall excitement for the fight was unbearable. She would never understand how high-schoolers acted like kindergarteners. It was sad.

"So you didn't run away like a coward huh Dame-Tsuna' the bastard jeered in full kendo uniform."God may forgive a piece of shit like you, but I won't! I shall smite you!" The man starts rambling on something that she tuned out perfectly, knowing it would be some impotent speech of his 'might and power'. Men just love hearing themselves talk.

One thing did catch Tsuna's ears though. "The prize is of course, Sasagawa Kyoko!" Kyoko bristled in irritation at someone calling her a prize of some sort while Tsuna just fumed. Okay, she didn't get to beat the hell out of him before, now she hears the bastard talking like he's god.

"You do not treat others like items, got that fool?"

Mochida just ignored her and thought, _'The armor and shinai that she's going to use has enough weight in it that two people can barely carry it. She'll neve—'_

"Get ready bastard, I don't need armor or weapons to beat a wuss up, so let's go!" the frustrated girl barked. Mochida sweatdropped. _'So she won't wear the weapons, whatever. The judge is still one of my members. No matter what happens, he won't raise Sawada's red. Heh Heh Heh.'_

He snapped out of his thinking once Tsuna dashed forward and went for the kill. _'The stupid girl really just goes straight at me? Too easy' _were the fool's thoughts before he lifted his bamboo sword up to slam it down on the girl's head.

That is, if the hit actually made contact.

Smirking and dreaming of the tortures she had planned for the man, Tsuna sidestepped and punched him in the stomach, sending the bastard balling down, clutching his injury. _'…Well, it fun well it lasted I suppose…'_ Tsuna sighed sadly while looking at the referee, who didn't raise her red flag. _'…What? ... Oh! So Mochida's a cheater and the referee won't raise my flag_-' Tsuna smacked herself and drowned out the disbelieving murmurs of the crowd at the unfairness of the match.

Mochida just screwed up his own life for him.

A sadistic laugh escaped her throat as a dark purple aura surrounded her. Groaning, the fool got up and paled at what he saw.

_'Too late.'_

Rushing back at the man, Tsuna kicked him in the guts, punched his face, elbowed his head hard enough to cause a concussion, and other, well bloodier things. The retard still got up (though she would commend him on his endurance) and gave a sloppy punch directed at her face. It was so weak she caught the fist with one hand and twisted it behind the guy's back, slamming him to the floor. Lifting up the bloody face by the hair she grinned.

"The heavens may forgive a pervert like you, but I won't. I shall hurt you so bad you'll want to die."

Half an hour later, the referee couldn't stand his sempai being beaten any longer and raised the red flag. "P-Poin-" He never got to finish; he fainted.

The crowd was not exempt from the scene, as many of them had either left earlier, fainted, or was now throwing up. Blood was splashed all around the floor, a few teeth littered, parts of the man's armor laying around and said man on the floor sporting two black eyes, no hair (that was just really really fun for her), a dislocated arm and some other non-vital injuries.

Contented with the release of her stress buildup, she got ready to leave (she had totally forgotten about Kyoko, who had been dragged out earlier) when a tonfa swung her way. Dodging, she turned to see who tried to hit her.

Only a displeasured expression was present on her face as she stared into the amused eyes of Hibari Kyoya, the Namimori Disciplinary Committee Head, aka: the most bloodthirsty kid in the school.

"I assumed you were an herbivore Sawada Tsunayoshi... I'll let this pass." Then his eyes narrowed dangerously. Suddenly, he pounced on her, his tonfa thwacking painfully on her side. On the last moment, she twisted a bit, both deflecting part of the force and also lessening the pain on her body. Still, it hurt. She stared at him calmly. Of course the boy would try to attack her. He was likely to do such sporadic and aggressive things.

"Remember to clean up." He made another smirk before he left as other disciplinary committee members arrived with various levels of disgust and dragged the remaining unconscious bodies away.

That was when she noticed the last person standing in the gymnasium. Gokudera Hayato.

"Y-You are not fit for the position of tenth! Tomorrow right after school. I challenge you and if you run away I will make sure you suffer!" Glaring, he left slamming the doors with him.

Just at the doors slammed close, Reborn appeared from inside a basketball pole. Tsuna arched an eyebrow up into her bangs._ 'How does he even get in there?'_

"Dame-Tsuna, that man is Smokin' Bomb Hayato, the boy I asked to come here. He's earlier than expected, but that is not the issue. Be prepared. Tomorrow you will face him."

"I know that Reborn. I won't lose" she replied flippantly.

Reborn just nodded before jumping on her head. "Dame-Tsuna, you'd best hurry and clean up before Maman gets worried." Her eyes widened. She had totally lost sense of time, and Nana would get upset if she wasn't home soon.

With supernatural force, Tsuna rushed through the clean up. Blood was quickly rubbed off with wet mops, teeth thrown in the garbage can, and armor put away in the storage room. After 10 minutes of cleaning, the gym was satisfactory. She cleaned herself up, making sure there was not a single drop of blood on her clothing, and then went speeding off home.

Nana was thankfully not worried nor angry, just curious. Tsuna had no friends, so she couldn't exactly 'hang out' with anyone and her daughter would rather stay inside than out. So why had her child come home much later than usual?

So curious, she stood in front of the doorway, waiting for Tsuna to come home. Soon, she did see her coming from away.

"Tsu-chan~ what were you doing after school?" Nana questioned.

"I… made a new friend." Tsuna answered indifferently. Her bag slung down near the sofa and she walked up to her room before her mother exploded.

Nana didn't explode but she did jump up and down in joy and sang, "My Tsu-chan has a friend~" Flowers emitted by the ecstatic mother filled the living room.

Up in her room, Reborn asked, "Dame-Tsuna, lying to Maman now?" Tsuna jumped on her bed and started finishing her homework. "I didn't technically lie. Don't you consider me a friend?" she muttered. No response came from Reborn.

"…Whatever."

Suddenly, her remaining homework was snatched away. "Reborn what'd you do that for? I need to finish my homework to pass the grade you know." Again, Reborn ignores her and was for some reason wearing a… construction outfit? Three TNTs appear and Reborn asserted,

"This is to help you. If you answer a question wrong, I will activate one of these." To prove his point, Reborn pushed one down, thus exploding the room.

_BOOM_

"REBORN!" Tsuna yelled. Her room was now organized into a warzone with things strone everywhere. Her bookcase had miraculously stayed alive and intact. Tsuna herself was not so lucky. Her hair was frizzled and soot smothered her face. Numerous scratched adorned her body. She was pissed.

Glaring that heavy glare she learned from Xanxus, Tsuna stomped to the bathroom to get ready for a shower. Reborn paused, before reminding himself not to get the girl too angry and went downstairs for dinner.

The night passed along like this with Tsuna pissed at Reborn while she cleaned her room and forcing Reborn to swear he would never do that in HER room again. Reborn did whatever to keep the girl happy. Not that it would matter. Tsuna wouldn't care in the morning.

She just needed a few hours to cool down was all.

…

The next school day was strange, but the change welcoming she supposed. Arriving at school, many of the students cowered from her while the rest of the population was confused at their peers' sudden change of treatment towards Tsuna.

"Psst. I heard Dame-Tsuna almost beat Mochida-sempai to death yesterday."

"Really? But isn't she like, really weak?"

"Yeah, but apparently she's part of the mafia so she sent some of her guys to beat Mochida-sempai up."

"We should stay away from her…"

They didn't know how right they were.

Rumors and gossip spread like wildfire throughout the school. Even in her own class, all the kids who had bullied her kept far, far away. It was finally peaceful.

Classes ended, and she walked out the school gates, her classmates parting like the red sea. It was hilarious. Or sickening. It didn't matter as long as they kept away.

Then someone entered her field of vision. Gokudera Hayato. Snapping her fingers she remembered. _'He challenged me yesterday! I forgot…'_

"I will defeat you here and now! DIE!" he yelled fiercely, holding out his dynamite. Reborn popped up. "It is said that Gokudera Hayato is a human explosive device that conceals dynamite all over his body." Reborn informed her.

As soon as Reborn had finished speaking, Gokudera threw a clump of bombs that appeared out of nowhere. Swiftly, Tsuna dodged them all by running to the sides. They exploded with a bang and Gokudera growled in irritation and surprise.

"DOUBLE BOMB!" He threw more bombs. She dodged once more. Now he was really mad.

"TRIPLE BOMB!" He took out an armful of bombs. The fool accidently dropped one, which in turn dropped all the others. They clattered the floor, ready to explode.

"S-SHIT"

_'The end of me…'_ he thought regretfully before Tsuna sighed. She really didn't want to kill the guy, even if technically, he would be killing himself.

_'He can't even use his own weapons efficiently.'_ She thinks sadly before taking out her two guns. Reborn smirks. His student was finally being serious (though he didn't know how guns would help and how she got one in the first place).

Then he grimanced.

The so called guns were merely _water_ guns.

"Dame-Tsuna, for what reason do you carry _water guns_?" he questioned dryly.

She scowled back at him. "Don't insult my water guns! They work perfectly fine!" she exclaimed. With that, she ran forward and shot, moving her hands so fast they were just a blur. In seconds, all bombs were defused, soaked in water. Smirking triumphantly she retorted, "You see? You never know when you might need to put out burning dynamite."

Reborn had an expressionless face which would be interpreted as stunned. Gokudera was also gaping at Tsuna.

Then he was on the ground on all fours. Staring at Tsuna as if she was god, he yelled, "I WAS MISTAKEN! You're the one who's fit to be the boss! Juudaime! I'll follow you! Command me to do anything!"

Now she was gaping. "What—"

"Having the loser serve the winner is a family rule." Reborn answered for her. Tsuna scrunched up her face pensively.

"Actually, I didn't really have ambitions to become the tenth boss. It's just when I heard that the tenth is a Japanese girl the same age as me, I felt that I had to test that strength…" he spoke sheepishly.

Tsuna continued to think.

"But you're much more than I expected! For putting yourself on the line to save me, I'll place my life on your hands!"

Tsuna was pondering on what actions to take. He was still a fool, but an interesting fool. Finally, she settled on kneeling down and hugged him. After all, violence would most likely not work at all, and he seemed to be the type to like gentle movements, or least be temporarily stunned at them. It would make a larger possibility of calming the boy down.

"Are you sure Gokudera-kun? Normal classmates are enough…"

Gokudera turned red at their proximity and stuttered, "A-Absolutely not!"

"I see… Well fine. You'll be my… right hand man . You'll join the Vongola famiglia, right, Gokudera-kun?" she continued quietly, her mouth right next to his ear. He shivered at the warm breath that sent cold air down his neck and felt his heart thumping widely. What was that feeling?

His blood burned and pulsed through his veins as if the body was heating up while connected with hers. "T-Thank you Juudaime." He murmured, his head leaning against her shoulder. She smiled at the boy and abruptly stood up once her business was done. She was aware that everything that sprouted from her mouth were half truths: things that were more of an illusion than reality, but that was okay. They were half truths, which where better than outright lies. He would be her closest companion (as sad as the fact was), and he was joining the Vongola one way or another. He was really cute sometimes.

Reborn broke the moment when he appeared on his customary spot on Tsuna's head. "Gokudera became your subordinate because of your strength. Good job Tsuna."

The conversation between student and teacher was then interrupted with the arrival of three seniors that smirked menacingly at them.

"Oh no no no. These guys are cutting class. This requires some punishment."

"You're only allowed to cut starting senior year."

"So how many front teeth do you want broken?"

These men clearly didn't listen to rumors, or they were blind not to see Tsuna there. Gokudera got up joyfully and ready to show his new boss his strength. "Leave it to me Juudaime! I'll get rid of them!"

Tsuna smirked, her eyes glowing maliciously at the annoying pests. "You do that, Gokudera." His passion brightened and his pink cheeks flushed darker with the lack of formality in his name.

"HAI! Juudaime!"

* * *

><p>AN: Thanks for the reviews. Was this chapter too romantic for Gokudera and should I make Tsuna more sadistic or something? Advice/Constructive Critisism would be nice.

I've edited, minor errors...yeah... And then this is the second edit. Jan. 4. 2012


	6. Chapter 5 Stupid Nezu

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

* * *

><p>Chapter 5: Stupid Nezu<p>

School was still boring. The students (with some exceptions) were boring. The teachers were boring. Therefore, Tsuna was bored. Reborn slept outside on a tree branch. She had to stay awake in the horrible teacher's math class.

Mr. Nezu sucked like shit.

"Kawada."

"Hai."

"Kurihara."

"Hai."

This was 'Torture Stupid Students' time, where the bastard returns the tests and talks shit to the failing students. Like she said, he sucked. Name after name was being called out in alphabetical order.

"Sawada"

Raising her head at her name, she strolled up. "Hai." Her hand went to take her test score ready for the swipe of the teacher's hand. Grabbing quickly enough, she snatched her test before he could pull it back.

Nezu looked pleasantly angry. Tsuna smiled pleasantly back at his astonished look.

Then he recovered and spoke. "This is just hypothetically speaking, but…. Let's just say there's a sole student that scores in the 20 point range zone and painfully lowers the class average… According to me, who's come through an elite course… That kind of person will just be baggage and burden on the education-conscious society. Is there a reason for that kind of trash to live?"

He finishes his speech. Nobody moves. No student is that stupid to do so when they learned (or thought) Tsuna was in the mafia. The teacher was confused with the silence. He was expecting jeering and laughing. Not a vibrating quietness unusual of his class.

A yawn came from his stupid student's mouth. _'Did she just yawn at me?'_ he thought disbelievingly.

"Whatever" she drawled out, not even looking at him.

Infuriated, Nezu was about to yell at the 'disrespectful student', when the door slammed open. The popular delinquent came in, his bangs shading his eyes. Nezu immediately started to reprimand the man. "Hey! You're late! What're you doing coming in at this time!"

The teacher had to yell over the overly excited fangirls that populated the area around Gokudera. They were the only ones courageous enough to move at that time; nothing would stop them from getting to their idol.

"Ahhhh?" Gokudera turned and glared at the shrinking man. Walking slowly, he headed straight for Tsuna. Right in front of her seat he yelled with arms by his side and a bowed deeply. "Good Morning Juudaime!" He said; voice filled with admiration and love. He looked so cheerful with eyes like puppies that begged for attention. Almost as if he was bipolar.

Disturbing thoughts appeared in Tsuna's head. _'He's strangely a lot like Levi-niichan… '_ This led to her reminiscing about her other brothers as she stared out the windows. Unbeknownst to her, Gokudera's outburst led to mass chaos in the classroom.

" What's going on?"

"Did they become friends?"

"Is Gokudera-san part of the Mafia too?"

"He's so cool!"

"Why is he talking to _her_? No fair~"

There was a flurry of talking before Nezu coughed purposefully. The class settled and he smirked, fixing his glasses and sweating bullets at the same time. "This is just hypothetically speaking, but… Let's just say there's a student who carelessly comes to class late… Without question he hangs out with the loser trash. Because like people gravitate towards each other…"

_'He's screwed._' Tsuna thought morbidly and with a small twinge of happiness.

She had known Gokudera's personality towards her for only a day, and she knew what would happen. Gokudera would kill the guy. And Tsuna would love every moment of it, though she didn't want the poor boy expelled…

"Old man." Gokudera snarled, stomping towards Nezu. With one hand he fisted the man's suit and lifted him up. "I won't forgive any insults towards Juudaime you bastard!" Turning around his face morphed into happiness. "Juudaime!"

He ignored the choking man he was lifting up. "I-I said i-it was hypothetically speaking…!"

"Juudaime, should I drop this guy?"

A finger to the chin and eyes closed as she thought for a second. "Gokudera, please let him down." she answered. "But Juudaime-!" "Gokudera." She opened her eyes with a level start at Gokudera, who flinched. "I asked to drop him right?" she questioned, sounding like a scolding mother.

He flinched once more as he slowly whispered, "Y-yes Juudaime." Gokudera let go of the guy and Nezu dropped to the floor with a squeak as the floor hit his arse with a slam.

Gokudera was looking thoroughly scolded with his head down and eyes showing despair, so Tsuna relented. Standing up she went to Gokudera and gave him a pat on the back. "It's fine. Just remember that it isn't a good idea to pick a fight with everyone without having a good reason to. Other than that, I'm happy and proud you stood up for me Gokudera."

Those words seemed to please the fair-headed boy a lot as he instantly recovered, glowering in pride and joy. Tsuna smiled fondly. He was just so cute sometimes. So locked up in their own world, both had completely disregarded the steaming red man who was still flat on the floor, glaring at her.

...

The two of them were ordered to the principal's office after school. It was infuriating really.

_'Who does the bastard think he is? He can't just expel us; I mean he wasn't even hurt! What 15-year old time capsule? It's obvious he's lying…'_ Tsuna's wrath was blossoming… Who was he to dictate what she would do after the mandatory school hours and waste _her_ time on such idiotic lectures?

Strolling along the hallways, she found a suspicious thingy. The thingy then opened up? And out came Reborn. It wasn't really surprising considering Reborn had always hid in strange spots. The only surprising thing was when Gokudera came out of it, looking all serious. _'How do they even fit?'_

"How dare they try to expel Juudaime! Don't worry Juudaime! I have a plan!" he cursed. Then with a grin, he ran and left leaving a handful of dynamite with the frowning girl.

Sighing at her friend's (at least she would consider him that) energy, she followed his trail along the corridors. On her way, she heard two teachers beside doors. Specifically her hated teacher, Nezu.

"Man you are messed up Nezu-sensei. Telling them to dig up a time capsule that doesn't exist" a gruff voice laughed.

"The principal is the one who's messed up. He forgot that 15 years ago there happened to be no time capsule buried! Those bastards are expelled no matter what. Well, if they were ever to break the playground in half I might rethink it" the man snorted arrogantly.

The two teachers laughed heartily at their 'fun'.

Tsuna meanwhile was smirking. She couldn't really be angry at him for lying when she had predicted this earlier. In fact, the only thing she could do was consider his words.

_'...break the playground in half.'_

…

She found Gokudera outside, just ready to bomb the ground. "Gokudera stop! I know where the time capsule is located!" she barked aloud. Thankfully, he hadn't started his bombs yet. Gokudera blinked in confusion for a moment.

_'He didn't forget that the goal was to locate the capsule... Right?'_ Somehow she didn't doubt that could've happened.

Once he remembered what he went outside bombing for, he smiled sheepishly and stated proudly. "Obviously, you're Juudaime!"

And so, he followed her to the playground.

The rest was easy. In one simultaneous action, they lit and threw each portion of dynamite and jumped back in time for the blast. It was indeed earth shattering. The ground and park foundation slit in half and burst, sending out large chunks of rocks spiraling out.

All of a sudden Reborn appeared and threw Leon at her. Now why in the world would he throw his pet chameleon at her, she would know soon. Staring at the chameleon that formed into … dowsing rods. Inspiration struck and she said gave an all knowing grin. Rushing forward at the mass destruction site, her Leon Rods tingled. "It's here!" with that said, she threw another bomb right at that crack and rushed back.

BOOM!

The earth shook once more and from that crack burst another great amount of rock, gravel and loosened soil. Tsuna reached down and found a time capsule. Opening it, she rifled through the many things inside it. If she found some incriminating evidence to prove Nezu was a fraud… There! Reaching in, she pulled out three tests and handed it to the amazed Gokudera.

He beamed proudly at her and grinned.

"What are you two doing?" a voice yelled.

"What happened to the playground? Do you want to be expelled sooner?" came the screaming of Nezu: their target. Gokudera lifted his hands, showing three tests; all of them Nezu's. It was a 2, 0, and 6 percentage.

"The 15 year old capsule didn't show up but a 40 year old capsule came up instead. Why are all the test of an elite course guy like you in the time capsule of our ordinary middle school? And these grades… What the hell? Seems like you need to lie to get a job, huh." Gokudera was sounding pretty cool then.

Too bad the serious side of his personality didn't stay. After Nezu was fired for fraudulent educational background of an F-ranked collage graduate, Gokudera stared at Tsuna eyes almost begging for a compliment of some kind.

"… You were adequate." she started when Gokudera grinned. "But you can't expect me to reward you for everything you do since I'll expect something better each time. Understood?" she finished. By then, Gokudera was crying at how she was such a great leader, and some other nonsense of how he wasn't fit to be her subordinate.

That somewhat irked Tsuna. It was hilarious how the guy acted all badass to anyone else, yet humble with her. But it was even more annoying how he kept on demeaning himself in front of her. She wasn't god or an angel and she had no wish to be.

"Gokudera!" she barked. "Yes, Juudaime!" he responded instantly, afraid of what she was going to say. Was she angry or disappointed with him? Did she not need him anymore?

Tsuna sighed. It was already noted that Gokudera didn't react well towards violence from others, and her yelling at him would probably kill him. She didn't need that. He was her 'subordinate' after all. And Reborn would kill her.

Sucking in her breath, she stepped closer to the trembling boy and hugged him gently around the neck. Stunned, he looked up and instantly blushed. Her chest was directly in front of his face, almost touching…

His blood pressure was increasing, heart beating quicker and louder. It was the same as before, and it felt… good. Ignoring his growing attraction towards his leader he looked up at her.

"Gokudera, don't be so harsh on yourself. If I had picked you as my right hand man, then aren't you worthy enough? When you say you aren't fit for me, aren't you really saying that my judgment is wrong?"she asked, as sincerely as she possibly could.

It dawned on Gokudera. Why had he not thought about this before? Of course! "No, you're judgment is always right, Juudaime! I'm sorry for ever doubting you in any way! I will serve you until I die!" he announced, hugging her tightly back.

"Isn't it great to have such a reliable subordinate?"

That shocked the two of them. They turned to see Reborn smirking (if it could be called that) at them. Gokudera blushed and let his arms go, stepping back. With an embarrassed laugh he went to leave, though not before remembering something.

"Oh yeah!" He pulled out a test score showing it to her. It read: 100%

"The tests in this school are a cinch, huh?" He grinned, then walked away.

It didn't surprise her, not really. I mean, it's not uncommon for a gangster to ace any test he takes, right? Right. Tsuna's ideas about the mafia were really getting warped. Not like they weren't already.

" … Whatever."

Gokudera was finally gone and she was by herself. Not including the grinning infant atop of her head. Surrounded by a broken playground with the earth split open.

"..."

This would not bode well with a certain prefect…

"Sawada Tsuna. What. Did. You. Do..." a voice growled out.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Oh how she hated that line.

Tsuna really couldn't bother with his lecturing speech right now. So she settled for staring at the wildflowers nearby.

"Enough." Hibari barked, sensing her carefree look before taking out his tonfas.

"I will bite you to death." He announced with a smirk and went in for the kill.

_'So he really does say that.'_ She thought indifferently as she dodged. On top of her Reborn took out a gun and shot a few rounds at Hibari. They were blocked by his steel tonfas.

Hibari's eyes narrowed and his lips twitched at the hitman. "Wao. Infant. I want to fight you. But first." With a short twirl he faces Tsuna, already in battle stance. It was like he loved fighting. He probably did.

"Midori tanabiku namimori no~ "

The fight was interrupted midway with some horrible sounding melody, which was the school anthem. With a flick of his wrist the phone is open. "What is it?" he growled, impatient for his fight. Then a pause. "… I see."

While Hibari was doing a mixture of glaring, grunting and frowning at the cell phone, Tsuna sweat dropped. _'Who actually likes that horrible anthem? I mean, does he actually like it enough to use as his ringtone?' _Tsuna went through her mind all the facts she knew about this Hibari person.

He's bloodthirsty. He's the head of the Namimori Discipline Committee. He apparently loves the school. He's a third year… That was it… She frowned. She didn't have a sufficient amount of information on the man. And she needed to, for several reasons she listed out on hand.

1. He was not at all foolish or stupid… hopefully.

2. He was strong.

3. He considered himself a 'carnivore' for some reason. Which was similar to how Bel-kun called himself a 'prince' and everyone else (except her) a 'peasant'.

4. He was so similar (yet different) to Xan-niichan.

Such a fine specimen could not be ignored.

With a renewed determination she smiled as Hibari finished talking on his phone. "I have business. Fix the playground before I bite you to death." He stalked away, probably to beat up some delinquents.

"…"

Great. Now she was stuck in the middle of an ex-playground that was broken in smithereens. Just wonderful. And hopefully, with a blink of an eye the whole thing would magically fix itself.

Reborn watched his students face and smirked. Whipping out a cellular device, he punched a number and waited. In a matter of seconds, men came rushing forth and in a blink of an eye, started fixing the broken earth.

She blinked.

Well that was good enough she supposed.

Too tired to be even remotely surprised at Reborn's connections she asked, "And just why are you doing this for me?"

"I know the limitations of my student. I'm paying" was his snide remark. She sighed. Sleep would be happily welcomed tonight.

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><p>AN: I hope you enjoyed this, though I found it a bit bland. Thanks for the reviews! Also, this definately will be a reverse harem. I've edited this, though no major changes... I think...

Second edit. Jan. 4. 2012

**Hakoiri**- I understand Xanxus would be the perfect big brother, BUT ... I- I somehow want a relationship between the two! I mean, THERE AREN'N ENOUGH Xanxus/Tsuna OUT THERE! Sniff... Also , I don't plan on making Tsuna the most sadistic of all. Her actions were more or less because Mochida is an ass. Her sadistic side comes out only when she's angry. I hope... I really need to keep on rereading my chapters...

**pheonixlady7**- I read/watch Beelzebub too! OGA IS AWESOME! I'm not really a fan of Himekawa, but the idea is good. I'm just gonna have to thinkg about when I could add it in... Maybe when she's being really sadistic to... some other character I will add in later.

**femaleJoey-** It seems incest (though I have nothing wrong with incest) but maybe... UGHHHH. Why did I have to make him so caring? WHY... Maybe I'll just add some innocent little snippings of the two and consider it non-romantic? Yeah, Dino will either be the big brother (threatened by Xanxus often) or a romantic partner.

**To all reviewers**: I will say, I most likely will make any pairing, some more dominate than others. Hell, I'll even do yuri if it seems right. The only ones I most likely will not do (for obvious reasons and some not) would be: Lussuria. Levi. Squalo. Bianchi. The kids. (Including Lambo). Shamal. Haru. ETC.

If you really, REALLY want one of these pairings, you need to give me the pairing. The reason why. And how I would incorporate it in.


	7. Chapter 6 Delusional Reborn

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

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><p>Chapter 6: Delusional Reborn<p>

Tumors were like a disease; they spread like airborne plagues and showed no sign of ending. She was now proudly labeled as part of the Italian mafia and daughter of a filthy rich yakuza boss. She had hundreds, even thousands of men (both foreign and Japanese) that would attack and defend on command. She was even seen together with Hibari; they were lovers. It was funny how there was such a fine line between fabrications and the truth.

It didn't really matter. Her life was normal; the only good thing was that Nezu was gone. Gokudera was just as annoying (and sometimes cute) as ever, and Hibari didn't stop wanting to fight her or Reborn. He was starting to turn out to be a pest… (Perhaps that was how he was different than Xan-niichan. He didn't yell or kick people randomly, and all he seemed to care about was the school and rules. In fact, it was so repetitive he was becoming boring. Did he ever think of anything more complex than just fighting? If not, he would be no different than all the other teens in the world.)

She was alienated from the rest of the school. And that was never good when the only ones who would approach her were an overenthusiastic subordinate, a bloodthirsty prefect and a crazy baby hitman. The rest of the sane (and stupid) population distanced themselves at least 3 meters away from her. Even Kyoko, the naïve loving was girl kept away. (Courtesy of her friends that dragged her away whenever she wanted to talk to Tsuna)

Gym class was all the same. They were playing baseball and Tsuna, who was in the less popular section of the class, was the last standing to be chosen for several vital reasons. One: She was part of the mafia. Two: She was still considered 'Dame' and weak. Even if she was part of the mafia, she was still rumored to be useless. Three: Gokudera went to restock his dynamite and so could not choose her for his team.

The first ones to go were those that were at least partially good. Then the others, and soon it was only her left. The two teams were pensive and worried about which side she would be forced upon. Tsuna couldn't care less. It was finally when some boy stood up and announced, "Tsuna-chan you can come with us!"

He had the average; black hair and brown eyes of any Japanese boy, but he stood out from the others. He was tall—taller than the rest, standing calmly a head above the rest, almost dwarfing her. A relaxing aura permeated around him.

A whiny voice complained loudly, unseen by the wall of humans that stood around the boy. "Ehhh? Why her? Dame-Tsuna can't do anything!"

It was a domino effect. His words made every other student pale, which made the teacher pale, which made the foolish girl who yelled that out pale at the instant effect. The thing was; the only ones who weren't affected were the fangirls. It was weird how they stood out from the sides and cheered the black haired guy on.

"Go Takeshi!"

"Kyaaa~ Yamamoto-san!"

"He's so kind~"

The boy took his crazy fangirls' crazy shouts stride by stride and smiled. "Aww, what do you mean? It means I'll just have to work harder right?" and smiled again. The boys looked at him with an admiration close to Gokudera's, and the female population cheered him on.

Tsuna yawned and stood by the side. 'Hmmm. Isn't he the popular one" she commented. It was amazing how much the man's smiles attracted the others to him like bees to honey. Well, it was none of her business she supposed.

Yamamato's superb skills kept them from losing too badly, but her team had lost—not like they would win when all she did was stand there and swing the bat at any random time.

The students sighing in disappointment and left whispering to each other how 'Dame-Tsuna' was so useless. What she didn't understand was how they didn't realize how loud they were whispering. It was like they wanted her to hear. She also didn't know why how even with them fearing her, she was still the only one left on the field, thus forcing her to clean up for them.

"Don't worry! Help is on the way."

Correction. The sporty guy stayed behind and wanted to help her clean up. Lovely. Now she would be forced to clean up while listening to the rabbles of some sports freak.

Indeed, as she started to take up the broom and sweep, the boy laughed and sighed. "Hey, partner in studies." Yes, that was what he called her. It was sad, but her horrible grades could be rivaled with Yamamoto's. (But his nickname for her was even sadder.)

Uncharacteristically, Yamamoto sighed once more before talking aloud. "I don't know why, but I'm slacking. My hits are getting worse…" Tsuna raised an eyebrow. Now, she could tell he had hid something darker than just an easygoing personality with those smiles, but why in the world did he confide this with _her_ of all people?

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked. He gave a sheepish smile and answered, "I—I dunno, I mean, I feel like you won't judge me you know?" His smile darkened and his head hung low. "What do you think I should do?" His eyes stared appraisingly at Tsuna, hopeful for some help.

Tsuna sighed. She then suggested, "Whenever I'm doing worse, I keep on practicing. When I've reached my limit, I-"

"YEAH! I see. Me too. I should just keep on practicing and working hard!" Yamamoto shouted and thanked the girl with a nod before running away. Tsuna's brow twitched in irritation and she muttered, "The guy doesn't even let me finish… And he didn't even help with the cleaning. Useless."

Then Reborn popped up. With a small swish, he landed on Tsuna's head and spoke, "Yamamoto Takeshi's popularity and athleticism is needed in the mafia. Dame-Tsuna, convince him to join your family."

Tsuna twitched before answering. "… I'll ask, but I'm telling you, don't be too hopeful." She murmured before finishing the clean up and heading home. The rest of the school day would be useless anyway, so better yet just skip it. It was Hibari's lunch period: he would be either in his office, or on the roof sleeping. Either way, he wouldn't notice her gone.

Nowadays, the extreme tutoring was held in the attic, so not to disturb Tsuna's room. Not to mention how long it took to fully organize her room back into order. Reborn didn't bother helping, and Nana was buy with the usual household chores.

So in order to prevent her room from being blown into smithereens, Reborn brought the lessons up where there would be no balance poles to break and no walls that would tumble down on them if any unfortunate accident occurred.

But it was needless, as Tsuna had answered each question correctly. Reborn shook his head and questioned, "Too easy?"

Tsuna snorted. "Are you saying I'd be as idiotic as the others in the school? Those simpletons barely learn anything, useless. And it doesn't matter. There is no point in actually trying if I know the material, so tests are worthless." It was insulting.

Reborn's eyes narrowed and Tsuna twitched. '_Damn_' she thought, regretting her words. Reborn smirked sadistically and said, "Then I should give you harder problems correct? Would college level be good enough?"

And so, the day was filled with explosions: mostly. Tsuna had gotten a rare question or two right from the either the combination of her culmination of book smarts or pure guessing, but most of her answers were fatally wrong. She didn't mind so much as long as her room—no, her books were safe. And really, this was similar to the training she had received from her adoptive brothers back in Italy. Just a bit more... wild.

Wild enough that the marks and scratches were clearly visible on her pale (she didn't go a lot) skin and a few dark bruises here and there, spotted over her legs and arms if they banged into something hard during the explosion or vice versa.

The next day she had arrived to school with more wounds than she had ever had before. She was faintly reminded of the stinging feeling she had back as a child, during her first run around the mansion. Her body stung and her muscles stretched painfully.

She managed to avoid Reborn and Nana by leaving early for school (remembering to write a note), but now she was _too_ early. Waiting two hours in front of the school building, especially with the possibility of the discipline leader around, wasn't the greatest idea.

At least she had brought a book. A big fat one; all about the _Wonders of Italy_. She just didn't have anything else to read. This encyclopedia of Italy had already been read at least five times, but she had nothing else. All the others were read more than eight times.

With a tired and irritable yawn, she plumped herself down on the ground near the school gate and started scanning, noting and memorizing each section of the book. An hour and a half passed slowly by while she almost fell asleep. Her breathes grew softer and her head dropped slightly, signaling her dozy state.

It was unfortunate for her that she had such a devoted subordinate. "JUUDAIME!" a worried, loud noise snapped her up from her doze. She groaned and lifted her head up at the yell.

"JUUDAIME!" Again, the annoying voice resounded through the air. Down the sidewalk came a running silver haired boy, shouting her name frantically around the neighborhood. She whimpered. The shouts were starting to ring in her ears.

"Gokudera" she groaned, wishing for the guy to shut up. Once Gokudera's eyes came in contact with her, they brightened, and like a true puppy, he ran up to her with a wagging tail. "Juudaime? Your mother said you left early toda—JUUDAIME! Where did those wounds come from? Who was it? I will hunt them down and-"

Tsuna quickly corrected the misunderstanding before anything else bad happened. "No, no one hurt me Gokudera. These came from… training. Intense training." She let out a sigh and winced a bit; a particularly painful bruise had brushed against Gokudera's arm.

Realizing what he had done, Gokudera gasped and bowed down, begging for forgiveness. "I'm sorry Juudaime! If you always train yourself so hard, I must do the same!" He clenched his fist in determination and Tsuna paled. "N-no, it's okay Gokudera. Really." Could this day get any worse?

Yes, it could.

Attracted by the noise, a kind, peaceful prefect had wandered in the area asking for some quietness.

Not.

"Herbivores, what are you doing loitering around?" the teen demanded, tonfas already out and ready to strike. Gokudera also looked about ready to take out his dynamite. Tsuna sighed at the disastrous combo and slinked backwards, hoping not to get hurt in the fight.

It was a good thing for her that Reborn had came, preventing the battle. The baby landed atop her head and commented, "Dame-Tsuna, I see your injuries have healed." Tsuna twitched in frustration. _'Yeah. The ones you've made…'_ It almost wanted to make her kill the child: the one responsible for the sting she was feeling. Almost.

Hibari's attention was diverted from the hot headed subordinate to the sadistic baby. "Infant. Fight me" he demanded, eyes gleaming in anticipation.

"Not now. I will be training Dame-Tsuna." Now Tsuna paled even more. A regular Reborn was something she could handle. However, she just could not deal with the baby hitman in 'tutor' mode, where he 'taught' her whatever he wanted to teach her. He was too uncontrollably wild and stubborn to follow.

Ding~

Dong~

Thank god. She was saved by the bell; the beautiful, godly bell she now christened her salvation.

Breathing out in relief, she smiled and tugged Gokudera into the school gates, leaving Hibari and Reborn (who had left her hair) back at the entrance. "Gokudera and I wouldn't want to be late for class, right Hibari-san?" she called out, before quickly walking to her class.

By the time Hibari had growled and turned to face his other prey, Reborn had left the scene.

…

Classes were boring as usual, and by lunchtime Tsuna contemplated skipping. The choice was hard. Should she try to leave the premises unnoticed and risk being found by Hibari? Or should she just stay and bear the monotonous lectures.

She cringed at the prospect of staying any longer. Hibari should be prowling along the yards, and Gokudera went to refill his dynamite stock again, so it should be okay… With slow movements she crept straight for the doors of the classroom.

Only to be stopped by a large mass of kids who were shouting and running all over the place.

"Yamamoto's going to jump from the top of the roof!"

"We need to save him!"

It was a large commotion, and apparently Yamamoto was going to commit suicide for some unknown reason. He had always looked happy and smiled as often as he talked. Well, except for that time he talked with her.

It was really none of her business. And the commotion would be a great distraction… So she once again, tried to break through the crowd (who had not yet noticed her) and run.

_Whack._

A hard stick-like object sprung from nowhere and smashed upon her head. The pain was enormous, and Tsuna clenched her throbbing head while trying to find the source of her pain. It would no doubt be either Hibari or…

Reborn.

Tutting, the baby frowned and spoke. "Dame-Tsuna, Yamamoto will be one of your guardians. He is a natural hitman." Gritting her teeth to keep from yelling, Tsuna sighed slowly and finally nodded her head in acceptance.

After recovering from the kick, she walked up the numerous stairs to the crowded rooftop. About half the space was filled with kids yelling out to the boy standing near the railing. Yamamoto was staring at the sky, ignoring the desperate shouts of,

"Don't do it Yamamoto!"

"Don't jump!"

"Yamamoto-sama, I love you! Please don't jump!"

The only problem was that Tsuna couldn't even see the boy; everyone was blocking her view. She cursed her height and tried to find some opening in which she could crawl through. This was useless. They were packed so tightly it was almost suffocating.

She tried to push her way through. That didn't work. She was either rebounded back, or harshly shoved aside from some random student. Then she tried calling out to the school of children, being polite enough to ask them to move aside, rather than yelling obscenities at them. Her words, regardless of how loud they sounded out, were ignored and overcome by the mass of murmurs that came from the large crowd.

She had enough.

Taking out two of her more realistic looking guns from her pockets, she raised it up and barked on the top of her lungs, "Move." Those near her turned to shout rudely at whatever was yelling so loudly, only to choke on their saliva.

They quickly pushed each other aside to get away from the dangerous yakuza girl. The ordinarily plain looking yakuza girl with _guns_. She didn't look as weak and ordinary when two sleek black pistols hung from her hands.

It was the parting of the red sea again.

Smirking in satisfaction, Tsuna walked up, ignoring the gasps of, "It's Dame-Tsuna! What's she doing here? Is she going to kill Yamamoto?" It slightly irked her how they spread random rumors like that, but oh well.

Yamamoto heard her name, and turned to see if it was really her. He came face to face with a girl who was calmly putting her guns away with a raised eyebrow. Silence passed before she questioned, "Should I ask why you're trying to kill yourself? Unless you're just 'relaxing' right next to those poorly constructed gates so that you could accidently lean on them and fall to your death?"

She pointed at the clearly rusty, broken fences. Yamamoto smiled crookedly and replied, "Oh, yeah! How did you know? Everyone seems to thi-" It took a while for him to process the fact that he was close to accidental death and quickly jumped away from the fence, landing on his bottom in front of Tsuna.

To prove her point even further, she whipped her guns out once more and shot a few rounds at the fence. With only two shots, the thing went dropping down, hopefully hitting no passerby. Not like it mattered.

Yamamoto's eyes shot wide at what could have happened, and he laughed nervously. "Geez. Thanks Tsuna-chan. I don't know what would've happened if I had…"

She replied flippantly, "It's fine." Then her eyes narrowed by a small margin. "But let me ask you one more time. You sure you weren't even _thinking_ about jumping?"

He chuckled softly, staring down at the edge of the building. "Well, I-I might've thought about it once or twice…" She stared down at him with uncaring eyes.

"I see."

He smiled.

She smiled.

Then took her gun out.

He smiled.

And she shot.

BANG

He dodged just in time. The bullets left holes in the ground.

She was still smiling eerily.

His eyes widened even more and he laughed nervously. "U-Um, did you just try to shoot me?" He inched back away from crazy girl.

Tsuna's smile twisted into a glare. "People who even think of killing themselves are not trash. THEY ARE WORSE THAN FUCKING TRASH. Got that?" she spoke with a condescending tone that sent shivers down others' backs.

The boy was too shocked to respond, and Tsuna walked away. The students parted away from the girl's path, too terrified to even whisper amongst one another about what she had just done.

Once she was inside the stairwells, she growled and her fingers itched for her guns. Just when she was about to take them out, the wall was peeled off, and out came Reborn.

"Family acquired."

She raised her eyebrow in curiosity. "Hm? What do you mean 'family acquired'?" Reborn smirked. "Yamamoto isn't a masochist, and considering the way I threatened him, he would most likely not want to join my family. Unless of course, you're so desperate and delusional that you believe he's going to join." Tsuna informed the clearly idiotic baby.

Reborn frowned at her and brought out his guns, pointing them straight at her. Tsuna scowled at herself. Sometimes, _sometimes_ she was really stupid.

"Training time." Reborn muttered and started shooting at her. Tsuna sighed, and rushed out of the school building home. In such a state of panic, she had hoped that Hibari hadn't noticed her, too focused on the crowd in the rooftop.

That didn't work well, as just when she approached the school gateway, a figure slathered in black with tonfas ablaze stood there with a smirk.

"And what are _you_ doing, Herbivore?"

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><p>AN: Hope all of you liked it. Please review, critique, do whatever. The next chapter will be a bit different then the manga. Not by much. Thanks to all those who took their time and reviewed! And thanks to those who took their time to read!

***I've edited it, and I think I made Tsuna's impression of Hibari worse... It's just that I always read about him like the "You've ... die." So mechanical. Which is why, sometime later, I'll make it so that Hibari actually had emotions.**

***Second edit. Commenting on what I last wrote, I now think of Hibari as a cool character, but I just don't see the two together. Jan. 4. 2012**

**First Lady Lestat-** I agree, why should guys get all the fun! Also, i should say that my friend complained. The guy said, "I NEED MORE HAREMS!" So I told him, "NO I NEED MORE REVERSE HAREMS!" And he called 'Reverse Harems' weird. A bunch of guys having sex with one girl is like a whore. I retorted, "most reverse harems don't include sex, since RH are for girls. Harems are for guys, who are perverted enough to watch sex, idiot.' That shut him up, HAH! (Even if I'm perverted and would want to read about the sex scenes too, but he doesn't need to know that.) Anyways... The romance in this fic will all be of different levels. Tsuna may like some people more or in different ways, but she'll still love most of them... Though Dino will most likely be the 'I love her' type while she would be, 'He's weak, but I still love him' deep in her heart. I might write a lemon about the two. Dino will finally be 'suave'!

**xXxEminaxXx-** I suppose I made her this way because, like many others, I find Tsuna too weak (willed). (Though he is adorable). Fanfiction acting like a daydream to me. 'YES! She's awesome now!' Sadistic is good, but yeah, I'm trying to make her less sadistic. That's all I'm saying. I'm trying.

**pheonixlady7-** I agree with you. I don't really like Naruto (the characters like Naru, Sasu, Sakura, Kakashi, etc. The Akatsuki is good, Iruka, Anko, Itachi and lots others are good. But the main characters annoy me too much.) but yeah I know what you mean. Hopefully, I've incorperated that in this chapter.

**Halloween's Phantom-** Good question. I'm not sure, but I don't quite like her character anyway. Do you want her in? Becuase right now her absence really won't conflict with anything in the future. Adding her in might be fun though.

Mukuro, Bel, Hayato, Hibari will all be included. Xan-niichan... I just don't know anymore. I will reread the part where Spanner and Irie comes in. If I like it, they will be added. I'm gunna change it somehow, so I don't add in the TYL arc though.


	8. Chapter 7 Stupid Cow

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

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><p>Chapter 7: Stupid Cow<p>

Problem after problem plagued Tsuna ever since Reborn, that sadistic little hitman had come into her life. First it was Gokudera; then Yamamoto; then his little training events. Now, now she was being _stalked_ by that, that bloodthirsty man.

Said man was leaning against the wall of the school gate, blocking her escape home. Mentally, Tsuna threw a tantrum and screamed in frustration. Nothing, absolutely nothing was going right anymore.

"And what are_ you_ doing, Omnivore?" he growled.

Tsuna moved forward, slowly, carefully, making sure not to feel intimidating to the prefect in any way. "Nothing. Nothing at all. I was just about to go home. I have-"

A bullet grazed her cheek and a blood oozed out from the slit. She growled and turned to see her mentor smirking. "Reborn, can't you just let me be? Just once? Perhaps right now?" She dreamed for the baby to just…

"Dame-Tsuna, your training session hasn't ended." Reborn had ignored her words, and settled for continuing to shoot bullets at her. All the bullets landed imbedded in the school wall.

The shots had also alerted any nearby students and in seconds there was a gathering of whispering kids surrounding the group of three. Hibari growled.

"For destroying school property, crowding and disturbing the peace in Namimori, you shall be punished. I will bite you to death." He leapt straight at Tsuna with a murderous intent.

Worried for her life; from both the madman baby and murderous prefect, she ran away as quickly as her legs could carry her to the salvation of her home. The only thing was that _he_ was following her. Reborn she could understand. They lived together after all. But Hibari? How was she supposed to explain him to her mother?

This couldn't get any worse.

"JUUDAIME!"

Except for maybe when an enthusiastic bomber was added to the fray.

Gokudera came running behind her, trying to call out to her while lighting his dynamite to throw at the prefect that seemed to be chasing his Juudaime. _'Wasn't he supposed to be refilling his stock?'_ she thought and ran even quicker.

Her lungs contracted harshly trying to take in the most oxygen possible and she breath harshly out. She did this all while maintaining a calm face: the usual running style she had taken to. Breathing in and out in a ratio of 1:3 to 2:3 and pumping her short legs quickly against the pavement, her breathing twice as slow. The books had always suggested this was to run, and it worked well; It kept her from growing too exhausted.

In minutes she had reached her home. A few meters away from the door, she flung her hands inside her pockets for the keys and immediately cursed at the empty space. Reaching the door she slammed her fist on the doorbell. A gasp as heard, most likely because of the sudden bang, and slow casual footsteps were sounding inside.

They were only a few meters behind her now. Reborn was leading with a smirk followed by Hibari with his tonfas reaching out for her and Gokudera whose breath was rugged from running and screaming so much.

They were 10 meters away.

6 meters.

3 meters.

1 meter.

Reborn's bullet had grazed her checks once again, and the bleeding had increased even more. Then, finally, the door was flung open by a distressed mother.

"Tsu-chan! Did you cut school halfway again? You know it's—" she stopped talking once she took a look at who were behind her daughter. "Tsu-chan! So you finally brought some friends in! And guys? How cute~ Come in come in!"

She ushered the two dazed boys in quickly and sat them down in the living room couch. She also either disregarded or didn't notice the large bleeding wound on Tsuna's cheek. "Tsu-chan, I'm so proud of you~"she squealed while handing out the drinks: coffee for Reborn, green tea for Hibari, Earl Gray for Gokudera, and finally for Tsuna she placed the _Encyclopedia of Everything Known to Man and Women on _her lap. The book was so thick it went up to her eyes.

Tsuna grinned joyfully. "Kaa-san, Arigato." She hadn't had a good book in how long? Nana smiled softly and answered, "Well, I did promise Tsu-chan that when she finally brought some friends, I would let you have it. Papa's friend, Basil-kun actually bought it a long time ago, so he was going to give it to you!" Tsuna lunged at her mother and gave a small hug."Thank you. And I'll thank Basil-kun when I get the chance."

Meanwhile, the three men, well two men were waiting with raised eyebrows. Gokudera was admiring her 'thirst for knowledge', but even _Reborn_ hadn't even thought to imagine that Tsuna would have a love of _encyclopedias_. What _was_ she, a nerd? Of course, he had never even seen the books lying around the house. All the books in her bookshelf were random picture books after all. Hibari was the less stunned of the two. He had seen the herbivore reading an encyclopedia not long ago, in front of the school building, and it really didn't matter anyway.

"But I'm so happy! What are your names?" Nana squealed, peering at each male while Tsuna was engrossed in her book.

Gokudera shifted nervously and replied, "It's a pleasure to meet you, honorable mother of Juudaime. My name is Gokudera Hayato." He stood up, gave a low bow and sat back down. Hibari only grunted and replied, "Hibari Kyoya." Reborn watched the two curiously.

Nana squealed again and glanced at the two. "Awww. You're so cute!" She stared at Hibari, then Gokudera. Both blushed, in embarrassment or anger she didn't know. Hibari would most likely be blushing in anger.

"Sure… Mom, perhaps you could bring in some snacks? Gokudera, Reborn and Hibari-san should be hungry…" She trailed off as Nana nodded enthusiastically. "Better yet, Hibari-san, Gokudera-san, would you two like to stay for dinner?"

Gokudera agreed with tails wagging. Nana wouldn't mind, she would love having people over, but Tsuna wasn't sure about Hibari. Would he agree or just leave? It was really none of her business, but this was a chance to see if he was really just a fighting machine, or a human with actual emotions.

"... No." Hibari replied and left the house with his black jacket fluttering in the wind. Gokudera snorted. "The bastard thinks he's so cool."

'_Heh.'_ It was an amusing thought, really. To believe that Hibari Kyoya would strive to look 'cool' in another's eyes was something she could never believe.

"Anyways, I would love to, Juudaime's mother!" Gokudera agreed vehemently.

So Tsuna, Reborn and Gokudera went up to Tsuna's room while Nana was preparing dinner. Reborn's eyes gleamed and Leon transformed into a green gun. He pointed it at Tsuna and ordered, "Training will continue."

At least there weren't bombs this time.

Interestingly enough, Tsuna was standing right in front of the windows, and outside on a tree branch stood a… baby in a cow suit? What was even stranger was that there were two horns protruding from the afro.

"WAHAHA! Remember me, Lambo? Well, good! Die Reborn!" he shouted. It was really random… The infant with the afro hair took out a gun and shot.

Nothing came out.

"Huh?" the baby questioned, snot dripping out his nose.

Reborn ignored the sight and asked a random question from some thick college textbook. How in the world would she understand that? Complex high school questions she knew, but not complicated college questions! It was understandable that she had answered with a random number.

"…27?"

The answer was miraculously…

Reborn smirked. "Wrong." And shot his Leon gun. Which was dodged by Tsuna and broke through the window to the still flabbergasted baby. The bullet hit the baby with force, and he fell down from the tree branch.

A loud noise, most likely crying penetrated the area, and Tsuna sighed at Reborn. Even if the baby sounded annoying, there was no need to shoot at him. _'Hmm… The name Lambo… sounds familiar. What family was that? Whatever'_ she though before flinging it out of her interest zone (of her mind).

Thus, the questions continued. Well, the first one began until the door banged open and broke off the wall. Then the little kid that had been outside was now standing in her room… He had arrived in seconds. Most definitely strange…

"Once again, It is I, Lambo! Prepare to die Reborn!" The kid says this enthusiastically to Reborn, who ignores him. The child, Lambo, presumably gapes in disbelief while Gokudera, who had been watching his boss peacefully, stood up in anger. "Don't disturb Juudaime you stupid cow!"

Tsuna, sensing this would end up in a huge mess and likely kill her room, tried to calm the two (mostly Gokudera) down. "Now now Gokudera. Should you really be arguing with a little kid? Besides, it seems to me as if he knows Reborn." She turned to Reborn, who ignored her words. "Dame-Tsuna, stop talking with your subordinate. You still have training to continue."

Lambo was now beginning to shed tears. "D-DIE REBORN!" he yelled, running straight towards the hitman. This moment lasted for a second as Reborn uncaringly slapped the child to the wall. "GYPAN" the kid cried as his head hit the wall.

Sliding down slowly the boy murmured, "Ow, that hurt… I must have tripped over something." He had tears in his eyes, but sat up and gave a bright smile; or at least tried to through his intense pain. Grinning widely he shouted, "I, Lambo-san , 5 years old, from Italy, a hitman from the Bovino famiglia, tripped! Favorite foods are grapes and candy and I, Lambo-san, who met Reborn at a bar, just tripped!" Rising up and running in front of Reborn, once again introduced himself.

"So yeah, let me try this again. Yo, Reborn!" He smiled and raised his hand in greeting, and was once again ignored. "It's me, Lambo!" He was ignored.

Dropping his head down in disappointment and frustration Lambo tried once more. Grinning happily, he poked his hand into his giant afro and pulled out a bag. Reaching in, he spoke with a carefree tone, "Ah! Yeah, I brought a lot of souvenirs from Italy this time~"

Now Tsuna's interest was piqued. Not to mention she actually felt bad for the kid. So innocent, so naïve, so easily manipulated: that was children. Smiling encouragingly at the kid she asked, "From Italy? What did you bring, Lambo-kun? Reborn and I would love to know."

Cheering up at her interest he smiled and said, "Oh? What's this?" He wiggled his hands inside the bag. "It's Kiritanpo!" Tsuna, though not interested at all at the food smiled. Reborn on the hand, continued to ignore the boy.

Lambo's mood changed into utter despair and Tsuna really didn't want the child to cry all over her room. Moving forward and patting the kid's head she encouraged, "That's great! Do you have anything else?"

Gokudera, angry with his boss's attention to the stupid cow scoffed. "Psh! The stupid cow head wouldn't have anything of use to Juudaime!"

Though discouraged, Lambo nodded and pulled out from his hair… a bazooka? Tsuna frowned. _'What the hell is a 5-year old doing with a bazooka? And is that the-'_

"T-This time-_sniff-_ I borrowed lots of weapons from the boss! The 10 year bazooka!" He exclaimed.

'_I knew it'_ Tsuna sighed. What was he doing with something that valuable?

"Those who are shot with this can, for 5 minute switch with their self 10 years in the future! But this is _extremely_ valuable so I won't use it!" he ended, trying to draw any sort of interest from the hitman tutor.

Reborn was still ignoring him, though he twitched seeing Tsuna's 'weakness' to 'crying cow heads'.

Lambo began sniffing. "To~ler~ate~" he muttered. Tsuna tried comforting him, giving pats on the back and it seemed to be working. That is, until Gokudera, even more frustrated, kicked the infant away.

Hurt and angry, the baby pulled out from his hair a grenade and spoke. "O-Oh? What may this be?" before screaming. "DIE REBORN!" He ran towards the hitman and was about to throw the hand grenade when Reborn, again, slapped the child along with his hand grenade out the window.

The boy went flying when the grenade detonated.

_BOOM. _

The explosion rocked the sky and Tsuna gaped while Gokudera smirked.

Turning to Reborn, Tsuna dead-panned, "Seriously Reborn? Now it's child abuse?" Reborn sniffed arrogantly. "I don't know him. Either way, if it's the Bovino family, they're a rather small mafia group. I don't associate with those who rank lower."

Tsuna snorted. "Foolish, Reborn. Extremely foolish. If the Bovino famiglia has such weapons in their disposal, they are clearly worth something. Interacting with the smaller groups will only earn their deep respect, gaining more allies. It seems to me that you're merely being childish you know."

Reborn retorted, "It seems to me you have no problem with the role of the Vongola boss."

Growling, she answered, "Even if the ninth believes that I am the one who will rule, there are alternative whom I believe in." Before she could say any more, a shout came from downstairs. Nana was calling her down.

Sighing, Tsuna glared at Gokudera (who gaped in anguish) and said, "Gokudera, you stay here."

Giving one more warning to Reborn, Tsuna stepped down and came face to face with Nana and a black, crying Lambo clutching her mother's pants. He was sobbing, his hair had branches and leaves in them and his cow suit burned. All in all, it was a rather sad sight.

Nana, not even noticing the state of the child suggested, "He's Reborn's friend right? Did they fight? Tsu-chan, you're older than both of them, so be the middle lady and sort it out okay? I'll be in the kitchen~"

So she left both of them near the front door. Lambo had climbed and clung to her leg. He was still crying. Trying to cheer him up, Tsuna asked, "Do you want to visit Reborn?" He startled her with his large shaking of his head. Tsuna groaned. _'Great. First he wanted to be Reborn's 'friend'. Now he's absolutely terrified of the guy. Smart, Reborn.'_ She mentally berated the hitman.

What was worse, Gokudera had disregarded her words earlier and was now 'hiding' behind the stairs with a miserable puppy dog stare aimed at her. Taking in a deep breath she called out, "Gokudera."

He flinched, and stood up. "Y-Yes, Juudaime?" She spoke sternly, "Come here." And he did so, his head hung down. Lambo had stopped crying and was now watching the two. "Follow me" she said, as the three walked to a nearby river and was now sitting on the grass beside the flowing stream. Gokudera was still moody, but at least Lambo was behaving.

"Gokudera" Tsuna began as he raised his head. "I'm not particularly angry at you, but do you have something to say to Lambo?" She stared at him, asking him to apologize to the infant.

Gokudera frowned and yelled out, "But he was-" Tsuna interrupted him. "No buts Gokudera. Apologize." He sulked. She sighed. Then said, "A right-hand man would be able to the problems in the… family you know."

He gasped and stared at her. She stared back. Finally, after much thought, Gokudera nodded and took in a deep breath, as if preparing himself for a grave task.

He faced the baby and gave a small bow. "Please forgive me… Lambo-san…" He looked as if in pain while saying this. Tsuna smiled at Gokudera, and he brightened. She then turned to Lambo.

Who shouted cheerfully, "NO!" That broke the dam as Gokudera's pleasure turned to fury and he growled, "What'd you say you stupid cow head!"

This was obviously going to turn into a huge mess, so Tsuna took a piece of candy she had found in her pockets and handed it to Lambo. "Lambo, I'll give you this piece of candy if you forgive him."

Lambo, gleaming at the candy nodded and snatched it from her hand. Tsuna patted his head. She then held back the snarling Gokudera.

Wrapping her arms around his abdomen, she spoke, "Do you forgive him, Gokudera?" Red invaded his cheeks and streamed all the way to his ears as he stuttered, "F-Fine, if that's what you want, Juudaime."

Tsuna smiled. She was finally pleased. After all that stress, it was finally calm.

…

The three sat on the soft grass: Tsuna was in the middle with Gokudera on her right and Lambo sitting on her lap. Then Lambo sniffed, "La-Lambo's dream is to be the boss of the Bovino Family…and make all humanity bow down to me!"

He sniffed at stared at the flowing river. "But, my boss told me to defeat the super first-class hitman, Reborn…" Tsuna sighed._ 'Ahh, the ignorant and naïve youth…' _Gokudera snorted, "As if—" He was silenced by Tsuna's disproving stare.

"When I was taken to the bar the first time by my boss, he was sitting on the counter. We spoke a lot, even if it was our first meeting. While Lambo was eating his favorite grapes, Reborn was blowing bubbles with his gun from his nose."

Tsuna sweatdropped. "He was sleeping." she voiced out bluntly. If was best to get rid of misunderstandings early on, unless of course, it was beneficial, which it wasn't in this case. "Reborn believes that the Bovino family is of lower class, so he doesn't want to talk to you."

Her words were harsh, and Lambo began to cry once again. "R-Really?" he whimpered. Tsuna spoke, "Yes." Lambo was now crying on top of Tsuna. Gokudera really wanted to just kick the baby away, but he held it in, knowing what his Juudaime would say to him.

Tsuna glanced gratefully at him before continuing. "But, Lambo, did you know that if you grow famous and make your famiglia a first-class one, he would talk to you?"

Lambo stopped crying and sniffed. "R-Really?" She nodded. "Yes. One day, you will be a world famous hitman, just like him. Do you want to be?"

He wiped his tears away. "Yeah!" he shouted. "Then you'll have to train hard, try not to disturb Reborn, and be nice to Gokudera. Can you do that?" This time, with less enthusiasm, he answered, "Y-Yes!"

"Good."

Then she felt a disturbing amount of admiration from her right. Slowly, she turned to see those glistening eyes… "JUUDAIME! Your speech was very inspirational!" he complimented. Yeah… she nodded and they left the river with Lambo still hugging her leg.

Diner began relatively peaceful. Gokudera and Lambo were eating quietly enough as they said apart from each other. However, this tranquility lasted until Nana left. With her gone, Lambo tried to make conversation with Reborn. He was ignored.

This led to a whole 'knife throwing' tantrum, where Lambo… threw his knife at Reborn. The knife was flicked away with minimum effort, and Lambo's knife carved into the boy's head. Blood was flowing like a river, but Lambo ignored this and with tears streaming down his cheeks, settled for taking out his bazooka, shooting himself.

_POOF_

The pink ('_Why pink?_' Tsuna thought) smoke cleared and showed a nicely dressed teen. He had silky black hair and a black suit with a cow print shirt underneath.

"Eh? Ah! Onee-sama! It's good to see the younger version of you~" The man, Lambo says as he hugs the girl. Tsuna was a tiny bit confused. It seems ten years really did a lot to the child; the only similarities between the two were the horns and the cow-like clothing.

"…You are Lam-"

"GET AWAY FROM JUUDAIME YOU PERVERT!" Gokudera yells, face flushed and dynamite out. He glared jealo- protectively. Protectively at the weird guy who was hugging his boss.

The man noticed Gokudera and in his eyes emerged some… emotion. She could analyze his facial muscles and the shape of his mouth and eyes, but she could not understand what type of emtion the man had, or at least, she couldn't put such a tangible feeling in future Lambo hugged Tsuna even tighter and stuck his tongue out at the fuming boy. "Hello to you too, Stupidera" and turned his head away. Gokudera in return, growled, "Why you-"

That's when Lambo noticed Reborn. "Ah~ Hey Reborn. How are you treating my ten years younger self?"

Even then, he was ignored. Reborn kept on slurping his spaghetti, and Lambo had a tick mark on his head. Meanwhile, Tsuna was holding Gokudera back (while still being hugged by Lambo). No one really appreciated being ignored…

It was a faceoff between Reborn and Lambo. There was electricity between the two. There was no sound but the chewing and feeding of Reborn. So far, Reborn was winning.

'… _This is ridiculous. How am I supposed to eat like this?'_ Tsuna grumbled internally, still holding back Gokudera.

Finally, Lambo lost his cool and shouted, "DIE REBORN! Thunder Set. Elettrico Cornata!" His horns excluded lightning as he dashed to Reborn. It was still no surprise to Tsuna that the now 15-year old child soon had a fork stabbed into his head.

"To~ler~ate~ WAHHHHHHHHH!" Lambo ran out of the room, away from Reborn, crying .Tsuna and Gokudera sweatdropped. Lambo had not changed at all…

But it appeared that no actually cared about the crybaby as they all resumed eating. After all, why should she care about the welfare of Lambo, when the infant version wouldn't even know what pain he had gone through in those 5 minutes?

Just as they had continued eating, Nana returned with a still crying for some reason, (was the future that bad?) child Lambo. Sniffing, he jumped on Tsuna's lap and clutched her shirt.

Nana smiled at Lambo's attachment to Tsuna and sat down. Gokudera glared at the baby and resisted (courtesy of Tsuna) the urge to kill him. Reborn twitched and continued eating.

Tsuna, not seeing any problems, pulled Lambo sitting up and began to feed him while eating her own meal. Lambo was enjoying this immensely; to happy to 'play' with Reborn.

And that was when Reborn had enough. First, the baby distracts his student from her studies. Then he drags his student outside her room for no reason. (Though Nana had a part in that.) Finally, the sniveling, stupid little cow had the gall to ignore _him _(not that he cared) while being hand fed by_ his_ student.

As soon as Nana had left the dinner table to clean the dishes, he picked up another fork and flung it as the cow's head. It hit straight on, and in seconds Lambo was running around the room crying, with a fork stuck centimeters deep in his head. When Nana came to investigate, Reborn was playing innocent. Tsuna just sat there with a raised eyebrow.

Gokudera, who witnessed the whole thing applauded Reborn and jeered at the infant, increasing the child's energy supply, making the child run nonstop around the house, crying. Tsuna was reduced to calming the child through some grape candies that were lying around the house.

"Gokudera, what did I say before?" she sighed. It had taken forever to get the child asleep in the bed, in the storage room. It took even longer for Tsuna to convince Lambo not to sleep together with her. She didn't have enough space with Reborn there. Luckily, Reborn's malicious smirk combined with another batch of candies smoothed the situation.

Therefore, Gokudera really had not improved the problem; he sort of caused it.

After five whole minutes of reprimanding, (Pitiful, really) Gokudera was reduced to a feeble frowning boy that sat around the house until late. Finally, he stood up and was about to leave the comfortable house back to his own apartment he had rented out… alone.

It was such a sad scene and Gokudera was her subordinate after all, so she stood up and hugged the surprised Gokudera from the back. Her arms wrapped tightly around the man's slim waist and she leaned her check on his back. Gokudera's face was flaming, and he whispered, "J-Juudaime?"

"Gokudera. I should apologize for what I said earlier… Can you be more polite towards others, Gokudera?" she asked, her words muffled by his clothes.

Contrary to popular belief, Tsuna was not exactly disgusted with what she was doing. Hugging a man was degrading and mostly uncomfortable. She didn't have many (or any) good memories (except the day she and Xanxus had hugged) of being hugged. Most had been of her father's excruciating bear-hugs. Some of them were from random strangers on the sidewalk when she was young and went out alone to shop. They varied from strange men in black suits to grandmothers with baked goodies on hand. All claimed they knew her from either her father or mother. Basically, she didn't like being hugged, and she didn't like to hug.

But Gokudera was different, in some aspects. He was someone she knew. He didn't hug her too painfully. But most of all, it was supposedly the comfortable body he had. It was subtle and hard, yet radiated warmth and was comfy. It sort of reminded her of the times in Italy. His smell was also something that addicted her; the faint smell of cigarettes and dynamite was overpowered by his natural scent of pine and dew after a harsh storm.

All in all, Gokudera was someone she would hug if the need came up.

Tsuna was still had her arms wrapped around him breathing in his strong scent, and Gokudera's redness had reached down towards his throat. He really didn't want to move, only bath in his boss's warm embrace.

But alas, all things had to come to a stop. Reborn had popped out of nowhere and landed on Tsuna's head. "Ciaossu."

It scared the two enough for them to part. Gokudera was embarrassed. Tsuna was calm, though irritated; the heat had made her drowsy.

"You should go to sleep and prepare for the test tomorrow Dame-Tsuna." Aka: Go to sleep or else. Tsuna, already tired, nodded and waved the still red Gokudera out her door.

Reborn was finally satisfied, and went upstairs with Tsuna into bed. She sighed. She would most likely have to deal with Yamamoto tomorrow (Reborn would force her if she didn't), and it would probably be an annoying experience.

So she settled for hugging her makeshift pillow (Reborn) tighter and lulling herself to sleep.

Reborn watched her slow inhale and exhales with sharp eyes. After seeing her fall asleep, he too moved himself closer to the woman's body warmth and fell asleep.

* * *

><p>AN: Hope you've enjoyed it... I somehow feel like my quality is getting worse and worse, especially the plot. But besides that, please review and give constructive criticism. Please just wait patiently for the other characters (Varia). The Mukuro arc will probably be shortened.

Also, I might not be updating as quickly, since I have a lot of school work and such. And I have other fanfics to work on...

*NOTE- I have edited it, though this is mostly minor.

Edited again. Jan. 4. 2012

**LilyMoonstone** and **Sekai no Kiseki**- Sorry it was so unclear. But Tsuna has both real guns and water guns. She only took out the water guns becuase it was useful in that situation, where she put out the dynamite. I mean, would Xanxus and the others really let her use just water? She trains with bullets. If you could tell me why you thought that and where, I would be glad to fix it. The compartment was just another name for the spaces or pockets on her where she put her guns.

**13animenurd13**- i'm actually reconsidering, since I'm reading more TYL fanfics. The plots vague, but it's coming to me. Of course, there are still many more chapters (some fillers) before I can even get to that.

**clippit**- ... I really need to read over my author notes. But the 'changing' thing was just about the next chapter. This chapter is a bit different from the manga storyline. I don't know why I wrote that; must've been delirious. Sorry about that. but thanks for taking the time to read the A/N. I appreciate it.


	9. Chapter 8 A True Smile

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

* * *

><p>Chapter 8: A True Smile<p>

Tsuna was curious. Yamamoto Takeshi was someone who had seen her… more furious side. Hell, she had almost shot him with her guns. It would be no surprise if he indeed was scared of her and like the rest of the population, tried to stay away.

But he seemed different. He wasn't smart—no, the only positive things about him would be his ever-present smile (if that could be considered a good thing—she would never be able to smile that often) and baseball obsession. The two aspects commandeered his popularity throughout the school. He was nice to his fangirls despite how wild they were, he was nice to his classmates, baseball club members, heck anyone. The real question was if he could keep his happy go lucky smile while seeing her (God, those rumors must have increased by more than double now).

So Tsuna quickly marched to school (along with Gokudera who had accompanied her in front of her house), ready to face Hibari if necessary. She had a feeling he would be coming for her, considering what he did yesterday as well as the fact that he probably found out about her targeting practice on Yamamoto and the bullet filled roof floor as well as the broken fence that should have landed somewhere on the ground…

But she was on time, and didn't see the prefect anywhere. When she arrived in her classroom, every one of her classmates was there, except for Yamamoto.

As soon as she slid open the doors, whisperings started from the majority of the students.

"Didn't you know? Dame-Tsuna was about to kill Yamamoto-kun yesterday. She took out a gun and shot him, even though she knew he was about to kill himself!"

"Ehhh~ She's like, really mean…"

"I know, right?"

"Did you know? Yamamoto-kun's not here."

"I know, right? Do you know where he is?"

"I dunno. He probably like, stayed home 'cause he was so scared of Dame-Tsuna."

"Yeah, I know right?"

'…_Girls always have this small repertoire of words they add to their already elementary level vocabulary, don't they.'_ Tsuna thought with disgust. It just wasn't right to see girls talking like that; they were a disgrace to any of the more sensitive, intelligent females out there. But otherwise, now she had proof that the rumors were spreading.

And yes, Yamamoto's absence was leading her to multiple theories, all of which were likely. One: He was late. Two: He really was frightened of her, and had stayed home. Three: He was sick.

Her theory was proved right after the class had started. As soon as the bell signaling the start of class had rung, she peered outside the window to see the out of breath Yamamoto. He was, fortunately, inside the school gates, and would not receive the wrath of Hibari.

So he was late. But still. That did not prove at all, that he did not fear her. Perhaps he did, and it took him a while to courageously get out of bed and head for school, thus making him late.

After a few moments, the classroom door slammed open and he appeared with a smile. "Hey, sorry I'm late."

He sauntered to his seat right beside hers and sat down. The class was cheering, applauding his 'bravery' and 'courage'. Pathetic lots.

While the teacher was talking, Tsuna turned, to find Yamamoto… sleeping… She sweat dropped. He seemed so relaxed, as if he didn't have a care in the world. Or he was just tired.

So she decided that she too, would sleep for the remainder of the class. It's not like anything valuable was learned here. Gokudera, who had been watching her, also decided that there was nothing he could do now that his boss was asleep, and continued to watch her.

"So you use this formula to solve for x, where as you can see, x—" the teacher's lecture was cut off by the bell, signaling the end of class. The students (most of who were sleeping) cried out in triumph (and then in dismay at the prospect of their second period class) and fled the classroom for their break while the teacher yelled, "STUDY! You hear me? THE HOMEWORK IS TO STUDY FOR THE QUIZ TOMORROW!" He screamed this whilst running out of the room to his next class.

Tsuna's eyes snapped open at the ear breaking screech and lifted herself up from the table. She glanced around the table, to find that the only ones left were Gokudera, Yamamoto and her.

'_Eh, this is a perfect time as any. This room won't be used for next class anyway.' _She amused herself with the thought until Yamamoto shifted nervously.

"A-aa… Tsuna-chan?" he began before he was interrupted by Gokudera. "DON'T BE SO INTIMATE WITH JUUDAIME, YOU BASEBALL FREAK!" he screamed before pulling out his dynamite and ready to throw.

Yamamoto's eyes narrowed at the sticks and he asked, "Those wouldn't be real, would they?" If Tsuna had real guns, then maybe this guy would have real bombs, which suddenly appeared from what he saw, nowhere. If Tsuna hadn't shot at him before, he would've thought them to be fireworks. Lucky, wasn't he.

"What do you think, idiot?" Gokudera sneered before he flung them at the boy, whose eyes widened in fear at the incoming bombs. He had no room to move, blocked by the thin walls and tables. His baseball, or anything else similar to such an object was nowhere in sight. Meaning: it was over for him.

SPLASH

THWAK THWAK THWAK THWAK

The dynamite clattered on the floor, soaked. The two jumped in astonishment and turned to Tsuna, who stood in between them holding her two water guns.

"Juudaime, what—"

"Gokudera, Yamamoto-san, _**stop**_."

Tsuna wasn't growling, barking, her voice had not even transcended in pitch. Yet just by her tone: her _aura_, they could feel her mood, her state. The murderous miasma filtered in the air and tasted like musky fog on their clamped tongues. Their lives were forfeit if they decided to disobey her commands.

"Gokudera, if Yamamoto-san wanted to talk to me, what gave you the right to try to kill him?" she spoke calmly. Gokudera stuttered, "W-Well, the baseball-idiot could have hurt you!"

"And when did I suddenly become a weak little fool?" she replied with a condescending tone.

"NEVER!" he shouted defensively and seeing her even stare that seemed to question him; as if trying to prosecute him, whispered, "I- I'm sorry Juudaime… I'll go now." His head hung down and his silver locks cascaded down his face, covering any expressions he would have had. Slowly, he shifted to the doors and left. The entrance slid shut with a soft click.

Tsuna didn't agree nor disagree with his choice.

For a few moments, silence reigned in the room; the little scene had not released the thick tension at all.

"…"

Finally, unable to stand the dominating atmosphere, Yamamoto tried to break the tension. "Eh. Aaaaa. Tsuna-chan?" he asked hesitantly, wondering if Tsuna was upset or not. She seemed so, but he would never be too sure…

"Yes?" she raised a brow at him. "What did you want to say to me before?" She presented him with her piercing eyes that dug deep into his chest. His nerves were on frayed at the stare she had given him.

That is, until a look of complete concentration and confliction crossed his face, unlike his regular personality; his inward struggle was visible, replacing the usual smile. What it was about, Tsuna had no clue, but it must have been important for such a laid-back person to have such emotions there.

His thoughtful expression laid there as his troubled brown/black eyes stared into her own. It felt a bit like her stares; she felt violated in both mind and body, yet unwilling to submit to such a burning, almost passionate heat.

Seeming to find whatever he wanted of her, Yamamoto grinned: one that was somehow, strangely different from his usual ridiculously wide smiles. "Well, I just wanted to thank you, ya know?" he laughed heartily, softly with shimmering eyes.

The suffocating air was leaving slowly, dissipating from the room and leaving. His smile; his laugh assuaged the dark aura, just like rain that washed away the heavy smog. It had a softening blow on her heart.

And she was stunned. Until she felt the idiotic look on her face (Mouth opened and eyes unrealistically wide), and so schooled her facial appearance into something less demeaning.

She may have predicted that Yamamoto would not have been too upset, but to be _happy_ about it? What was he, a masochist? So she raised the question aloud. "Are you a masochist?"

"…"

Silence ensued as Yamamoto stared at her in confusion. "Huh? What's a maso-chist?"

"…"

Tsuna's bad mood was cleared completely and she smirked_. 'What an innocent, naïve, fool.'_ She strolled towards the sliding doors and spoke lazily, "If you don't know, I won't tell you."

But just as she was about to open the door, the other male shouted, "Wait!" She stopped, and turned with a raised brow. "What?"

His cheery disposition turned nervous once more and he asked, "…Could I ask you something?" Tsuna inwardly grinned. This was the moment she was waiting for. "Yes, what do you want?"

"Well, I just wanted to ask why… are you being chased by the yakuza? Is there something I should know about you? I mean, you don't have to tell me but, are you in danger or something, for you to need a weapon like a gun?" he asked, staring intently at her.

"…"

Now Tsuna was truly amused. She had imagined him as a caring fellow, just not sure how caring. But if he insisted, she would tell. She couldn't possibly keep Yamamoto out of the loop when Reborn had wanted him in the mafia. And whatever Reborn wanted, he got.

"Fine, I'll tell you. So, Yamamoto-san, what do you think I am? And I'll give you a hint: I have a family, I take part in illegal dealings, and I'm dangerous. What am I?" she spoke, basically giving him the answer.

Yamamoto, however, was never good at guessing. "Aaaa, a drug dealer?"

"Close."

"Ganster?"

"Closer"

"…Yakuza?"

"Almost there."

"…M-Mafia?"

"Jackpot"

Tsuna smirked. This had been easier than she imagined. What she had imagined, was torturous sessions where the boy would say anything that came to mind, hell maybe even a stupid math teacher. If it was him it would be possible, she was sure of it.

But across the room, Yamamoto gaped. It felt unimaginable, that someone like Tsuna, the one people called, "Dame-Tsuna" was part of the mafia… (Did he not listen to rumors? That she was part of the yakuza or mafia? Apparently not.)

"Wait, so are you really part of the mafia?" he exhaled slowly.

"In Italy, yes."

"Then you're like one of those lower workers right?" It would seem obvious that someone in middle school—if they were part of the mafia—would be lower in the food chain.

"Nope, Dame-Tsuna is the 10th Vongola Mafia boss."

A squeaky voice said as Reborn along with his fedora, fine suit, and Leon appeared on her head. Yamamoto's eyes widened at the baby that had just popped out of nowhere. "Who're you?" he asked, confused. And did the baby just say Tsuna was a mafia boss?

"I'm Reborn, Dame-Tsuna's tutor. I'm a first-class hitman assassin. And yes, I did." Reborn answered with a smug look and a scary gleam in his fully black eyes. His not so innocent stare was really starting to creep a certain guy out.

'_So he really can read minds… I always thought he mastered the art of predicting what others think based on their personality and mind processing…_' Tsuna muttered internally, truly curious.

Yamamoto was the less calm of the two, though he did look more relaxed than before. "Aaaa… Well, I would've never imagined this, ever." He chuckled humorously.

That was a tacit agreement among both parties. Yamamoto would never have believed that his 'useless' classmate was the leader of some Italian mafia. Tsuna didn't imagine she would have to become a mafia boss either. She left that all to Xanxus.

In fact, she planned to live a more solitary life with her brothers in Italy after she grew up and stay in a more peaceful, less troublesome lifestyle. And, she was going to keep it that way. If that was possible with her crazier by the day life.

"…"

A few more seconds of peaceful (or awkward, considering Reborn's glaring eyes at the two) silence and Tsuna was rapidly losing interest in the other.

"So, are you done? If so, I'm going" she yawned out and was about to open the doors. Until she was stopped by a quick shout, startling her into stopping once more.

"Wait! I want to ask you something!" he shouted.

She tilted her head and turned around with an impatient yet curious look. "Yes?" What more did he want with her?

"Well…" he shuffled nervously before inhaling a deep breath and relaxing his tense muscles. "I just wanted to ask if I could join?" He ended with a bright smile aimed towards her.

Tsuna looked skeptic. _'Did he just ask to join the mafia? Reborn must be influencing him somehow... No sane person would do so.'_ All in all, Tsuna wasn't surprised, but it really didn't matter at this point.

"I'm telling you, this isn't a game. There are guns, knives, assassins out there. You could get killed in a heartbeat. Why do want to get yourself killed?" She asked him, waiting to hear his response. And also wondering why he even wished to join.

"Aaaa, well." He started, glancing out to the windows. The sun was setting with smoldering hues of orange, red and yellow. The glow danced and flickered on him, portraying a tranquil scene.

"I guess it started ever since you yelled at me. It was like a slap in the face y' know? Sort of like a mom, though I would never know…" His smile slipped into one of sadness that just didn't suit him at all.

Tsuna felt a pang of empathy course through her heart. She really didn't want to have a life without her mother—Nana was someone who tied her to this place. If she could never see her again, missing all those loving smiles, meals, infuriating clothing choices, even the tight hugs—well, it would be something incomprehensible.

"I see…"

Yamamoto's smiles cleared as he glanced at the passing emotions on her face. "Even if I was sort'a scared, you helped me. If I had really died back then…" He winced at what would have happened. "I would've regretted it a lot" he concluded.

"And being with you is fun!" he finished with a grin.

Tsuna grimaced. The relaxing atmosphere had totally disappeared. 'He really is a fool.' She lamented.

"So am I in?" he asked hopefully.

"…I'll think about it." She responded, and walked away.

"Wait!"

She twitched and turned. "What?" she snapped. There were only a limited number of times she could tolerate this.

Yamamoto didn't seem to notice her vexation and gave a warm smile.

Tsuna froze. Her cheeks reddened and her heartbeat quickened; something that never happened before. His smile was…

"Thanks." He whispered, and his smile immediately turned into a wide grin.

Frowning at her reaction, Tsuna controlled her face to a neutral look.

"…Meh."

Her last words said, she quickly slid open the doors and left.

"…Hey Reborn," she called out, only to find the baby gone. She sighed, and then head towards her next class. She would be late, but who cares?

Or least that was the plan, until she heard the tell tale signs of feet stomping on the floor and a hand wrapping around her shoulder.

"Hey! Wait up!" Yamamoto grinned as he followed her side by side to their next class. "We have science next right?" he asked.

Tsuna sighed once more. Ignoring him, she walked to class. Yamamoto took her silence as a yes and laughed, spouting random things while following her closely.

…Would her ire never end?

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry it's shorter than usual, it just turned out that way. Please review and comment. Was Tsuna too emotional? Yamamoto is now finally not an ignorant "haha" person! I hope... When I read some fanfics, Yamamoto is either the really angst portion, or just the really 'Ha Ha' one. I was this to be a mixture of both.

Was my ending good? Please, comment and questions are appreciated. I tried making Tsuna more 'female' though not too girly.

**Sachiel Angelo**- There will be R27, and yes Reborn will have his body back at least sometimes. But only in future chapters. For now, we'll have to make due with his infant body.

**Squalgasm**- Firstly, I LOVE YOUR NAME. Heh. Secondly, Squalo might be included, it's just for some strange reason, I imagine him more as the uke in the relationship...

**ATC**- Don't worry, I can change or warp the situation or circumstances so that Tsuna's personality makes sense. Yes, I have thought before of an arranged marriage, but I feel like that would put enormous stress on their relationship. Unless I wish to do that, it's not very likely. Yeah, 1827 is pretty awesome. When I imagine Tsuna manipulating Hibari, Hibari is never actually truly manipulated. I just can't wait to write about him being... humane. I'm not sure about Bel, but Basil is probably going to be a sibling type... I can't really see him romantically liking her, though my opinion might change. 80 and 59, well they aren't exactly normal, but I know what you mean. And yes, Yamamoto IS something different in this chapter! He is NOT just a person who says, "haha!" to everything and acts like an idiot!

Edited. Jan. 4. 2012


	10. Chapter 9 Tests Suck

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

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><p>Chapter 9; Tests Suck<p>

It was a regular, ordinary, and luckily, a possibly non-crazy day for Tsuna. She had woken up and prepared herself for the arduous task of school, along with the numerous abominations of mankind she would be forced to meet.

Yamamoto and Gokudera had taken it upon themselves to escort her to and from school each day. Their loyalty to her surpassed even those of lovers; their possessiveness reached no bounds.

Tsuna had learned quickly that it didn't matter what she did; they would follow her wherever she went, both in_and_ out of her school life, and she had the foreboding feeling that whatever she did to dissuade them would be meaningless. Therefore, she had given up the small slip of hope that they would leave her in solitude. To add to her never-ending irritation, Reborn encouraged them, despite his ever worsening (For what reason it was truly unclear) behavior.

So, she walked with them each day to school, and it was something… exhausting for her. The two boys' relationship would be something akin to a cat and dog. Yamamoto was the relaxed cat, and Gokudera would be the barking dog, infuriated by the cat's presence, especially in that of his 'master's' sight. Both were cute in their own way when separated, but together, they were a catastrophe waiting to occur.

"Yo Tsuna! No sleep? You have bags under your eyes." Yamamoto remarked casually with an arm hung around her shoulder in what should be considered to be an intimate gesture. Gokudera didn't take it too well.

"You! Baseball idiot, get your hand off Juudaime!" he growled, tugging Tsuna away from the bastard. Gokudera was his usual high-blood pressured self, though she had made some improvement with him. He would no longer recklessly attack a random innocent, unless she was endangered or ordered. Of course, that did not mean that he would keep his mouth shut; it only stopped him from pulling out his dynamite.

"_Yawwwn_… Yeah..." she yawned tiredly.

'_Curse you, Reborn…'_ she snapped internally. Reborn's 'training' had let her sleeping hours wane from ten hours to eight and below. She was becoming accustomed to the lessened resting time, yet it still had a large impact on her body. Getting Lambo to fall asleep and handling Reborn's random angry moments only decreased her time even further.

"Ah, well, you better not be studying. I mean, I wouldn't want to lose my failing partner!" Yamamoto grinned, elbowing her on the side (and completely forgetting that Tsuna had better grades than him anyway). Gokudera grinded his teeth and crushed his cigarette box at the movement.

Yamamoto's interaction with her really only heated things.

"You….YOU BASTARD! I'm telling you to get away from Juudaime!" he yelled, screaming for all his worth. That is, until Reborn popped out from a random tree (he was following her again…) onto Tsuna's head. This was occurring so often no one really complained nor questioned his actions.

"REBORN! You can't possibly accept him into the Vongola, he's not worthy!" Gokudera pleaded, glaring at the other man. The baby only smirked and replied, "I've already decided. However…"

Tsuna didn't like where this was going. '_Reborn wouldn't complicate things… would he?_' she questioned herself, then remembering he loved to mess up her life in the first place.

"If you are so adamant, I will hold a family entrance test for Yamamoto. And yes Dame- Tsuna, that's my job." He ended with an 'innocent' look, a small tint of sadistic humor inside. Tsuna sighed, Yamamoto grinned, and Gokudera agreed happily.

"It will be held after school. Don't be late." Reborn warned before disappearing once more.

Gokudera was now appeased. For the whole rest of the school day, his mood seemed a large portion better. No longer did he try to insult the baseball player, nor was he gritting his teeth, destroying his cigarette cases, grumbling softly, frowning intensely, and dreaming of the baseball idiot's demise and everything else that came with Yamamoto's presence. No, it was all the buildup for the (hopefully for him) fight with Yamamoto.

…

It was time. They were behind the school in a field, where Yamamoto's 'family entrance test' would commence. Tsuna was not looking forward to it; she would've left so much earlier if not for Reborn, that evil tutor. She had absolutely no wish to see the destruction they would cause, and even if she did want to 'observe' Hibari, that did not mean that she enjoyed the pain and annoyance he would bring if he saw what would happen.

But again, she had no choice in the manner.

"So what's the test?" Yamamoto asked with a cheery grin. Gokudera smirked and retorted, "Well, you're-"

"Going to dodge the attacks. Simple, no?" Reborn interrupted. The enthusiastic bomber hung his head down in disappointment. Tsuna sighed. And Yamamoto visibly brightened. "Sure!" If it was that easy then—

Reborn smiled deviously and started with something simple and easy: knives. He flung a line of sharp daggers straight towards Yamamoto, who, with wide eyes, had dodged them just in time. If it weren't for his superior baseball reflexes, he would have been made into sashimi.

Tsuna watched with morbid amusement, seeing the oh-so-calm Yamamoto flustered. Perhaps she would make this a habit… Other than that, she ignored the surrounding events and continued to stare at his adorably shocked face.

"Dame-Tsuna, you should set an example" Reborn stated with innocent joy. And right after, knives began to fly her way. Tsuna wasn't exactly surprised, and yet she didn't really have a desire for this… exercise routine in her life. No, she could be at home, sleeping, or reading, or something more productive than running from her insane tutor.

But that just wasn't her life anymore. So she did the only thing she could do in such a situation—follow her teacher's words to avoid crippling pain.

And there she was, running along with the baseball boy, avoiding what was now an upgrade to bullets. Lovely. Just lovely. She sighed and continued jogging side by side with Yamamoto, who was smiling softly at her. Perhaps he didn't understand that she did not run beside him to help, but she was forced to?

Still, even after pushing his student to listen to his orders, Reborn wasn't happy. No, how could he be happy when the idiot was grinning stupidly at his Tsuna, running with her like…. No, he didn't like that at all. The bullets shot out quickly and Reborn turned to Gokudera with a glint in his eyes.

"Gokudera, you may let loose."

The bomber's face lit up in astonishment and joy. "Hai Reborn!" he shouted and prepared his bombs for Yamamoto. If he had it his way, the bastard running with his Juudaime would be blown out of the area, preferably out of the world. At the very least, he could die. With that in mind, he threw his dynamite with all his power and watched as they went flying towards the pair.

Tsuna growled irritably while Yamamoto smiled back at Gokudera, viewing the murderous intents coming from the boy like a television screen. It was interesting to no end.

With the whole play between Yamamoto and Gokudera was going on, a small boy stood on a rooftop ignored. Because of their bantering, no one paid any attention nor noticed the 5-year old Lambo. No one heard his soft, "To-le-rate" nor did they see the tears running down his eyes. Well, Reborn had noticed him, and turned his head anyways.

So, Tsuna and Yamamoto had not noticed the missile launchers come their way (along with the bullets and dynamite) until it was too late.

Reborn had somehow run in front of them and with Gokudera and Lambo at another corner, they were stuck with less than 3 meters of space to dodge. Not a lot when there were bullets, explosives and a missile or three coming at them.

Her lack of restricted movement and thus, inability to dodge his attacks did not even occur to her subordinate. No, Gokudera saw only Yamamoto, the man that was crowding his Juudaime; the man he needed to take out. His foolish actions most likely came from the result of his enormous jealousy.

The three explosions came straight at them right at the center, and Tsuna and Yamamoto had no defense. Gokudera's, finally realizing the situation his boss was in, widened his eyes in worry and he cried out, "JUUDAIME! Are you alright?" as he ran towards the dust and debris. Reborn stood with apathetic eyes (possibly a tint of worry?), and Lambo… couldn't exactly see anything through his tear stricken eyes.

Once the dust had cleared up, it revealed to their eyes, a slightly wounded Yamamoto who stood, covering Tsuna who knelt with blinking eyes aimed towards her savior. She didn't think he would actually cover her, leaving all damage (though he did dodge most of them) at him…

Gokudera stood in anguish; at what could have happened to his boss, envy; he should have been the one who saved her, and finally, self-hatred; at what he had done. Yet begrudgingly, he still needed to thank Yamamoto for what the boy had done. Gokudera took slow, hesitant, steps towards Yamamoto and grabbed the boy's shirt with a fist.

He bit his lips before sighing and gave a pained smile. "Good Job." He bit his lips once more, crossing his arms with a light blush, clearly seen in comparison to his pale Italian skin. "You protected Juudaime, so I have no choice but to admit you into the family" he announced regretfully, before instinctively snatching Tsuna away from the baseball idiot's arms and into his own, inducing a blush on himself.

Altogether, the sight was too adorable to say in words. Tsuna's heart wasn't exactly throbbing, but the scene did warm it to a certain degree. Gokudera's sullen face was just so… beautiful it made her want to see more. He was like a kitten, she wanted to pet and cuddle it.

She had also noticed that pained, regretful expression Gokudera had on him. Knowing exactly what he was thinking, she said aloud, "Gokudera, don't feel guilty. It didn't really matter if you noticed or not. Reborn had given you orders, and I expected you to follow them." She waved a hand off, as in dismissing the whole 'accident'.

Still, Gokudera couldn't just let himself go after what he did—what he thought that hindered his own thinking ability. It was because of his inexcusable jealousy towards his boss's affection to the other.

'_Because of me- Because of me Juudaime was…'_

Gokudera, in tears at his boss's forgiveness frowned. "B-But Juudaime, it was because of my foolish—"

His word's were cut short as Tsuna sighed. This 'problem' of his kept on repeating. Could he not stand being forgiven? Was it that hard? It was starting to fray on her nerves.

"Gokudera, what did I tell you? It's fine."

"But"

"NO buts. Gokudera, I said I forgave you. Are you going against me?" she growled, annoyed.

Finally relenting, the now sniffing boy gave a bright smile. "No, I guess not Juudaime. A-Arigato!"

Her words had brought him out of his distressed shell. Meaning, it brought up his overall mood. In fact, Gokudera had even tried to give a proper gratitude to Yamamoto. The boy had, after all, saved his Juudaime's life.

"…Thanks, baseball idiot." Went the rough praise.

Yamamoto grinned at Gokudera's acceptance.

That is, until Gokudera continued with a dead voice, "But Juudaime's right hand is me. _You're_ the shoulder blade."

Then, his cheerful disposition morphed into a serious calm as he answered, "Nope, sorry. I don't want to withdraw from being Tsuna's right arm. You'll be the ear lope." This led to another heated argument with Gokudera yelling out curses at the boy.

Tsuna was caught in the middle of the two, as each snatched her from the other's arms and into their own.

The game went on and on before two bullet shots rang out and cuffed one thread of each boy's hair. The silky strands had burnt tips and the boys froze with a jump. The sound still rang in their ears: the slice that went with the bullet cutting air at light speed.

Slowly, the three turned their heads to see an emotionless Reborn. His beady eyes caught Yamamoto's and he spoke. "You passed the test. You're officially part of the family." The boy gave a sheepish grin and laughed out, "Thanks."

Yet he could say no more, before another bullet shot out near his face.

"Now go home" Reborn ordered curtly. Yamamoto's smile froze as he gave a nod of his head. "Y-Yeah…" He could say no more so with a few deep breaths, he turned to Tsuna giving a warm glance. "I'll be going now, I have baseball practice."

And there went Yamamoto.

Gokudera watched with satisfied eyes. Until Reborn ordered, "You too Gokudera." His dismay was apparent, but he did so anyway albeit with trudging steps. No one disobeyed Reborn.

Finally alone, Reborn jumped onto the amused girl's head and spoke, "We're going home."

With a yawn, Tsuna did so, letting out a tired sigh. Well, today hadn't been so bad. She had only been pushed around by two males, forced to outrun bullets, almost hit by missile launchers; it wasn't so bad. At least she didn't have to move to much right? She tried convinced herself so, though she knew her life was getting crazier by the day.

…

Everyone had left, yet there was one solitary figure remaining. Lambo was still watching around on the roof, playing with his bazooka. His tear-stained cheeks were already dry with the high winds billowing on top. Everyone had left and forgotten about him… He sported a melancholic frown before sniffing and letting out a loud sneeze. Then with a loud wail, he ran down the numerous steps, out into the neighborhood, and back into the safety of Nana's chest.

* * *

><p>AN: Very sorry for the late update... And while I worked hard on this, I've been facing exhaustion for some unknown reason... But not the point. Hope you liked, it (Though this chapter was a bit dull for me) and comment. If you've noticed, I have now incorperated italicized thoughts. Notice, it is only when it had the '' signs.

The next chapter (I find) will be more interesting. It is the added addition of Bianchi! And a tibit of Tsuna Kyoko pairing. If you don't like the pairing, tell me why, and I might change it... (But I just feel that Kyoko shouldn't just be the 'innocent' 'naive' girl who is totally unware of any romantic feelings. That just doesn't work out for me.

**Yoruko Rhapsodos**- Yes, it is going to be a reverse fanfic. It just doesn't really seem like it now, since Gokudera and Yamamoto are the slower types, Reborn needs to turn into an adult, and the rest haven't come out yet... Sorry.

**Nightmaric**- Agreed. Though I'm not sure about motherhenning, he will be overprotective. He'll be arguing with Xanxus a lot...

**Shugopop**- Xanxus will come back... in a far future of my fanfic. But yeah, Byakuran will be in this fanfic, whether in the present or TYL or both I'm still not sure.

**MangaFreak**- I'm in partial agreement. I would love to write a steamy scene with Tsuna riding Xanxus, but I just can't imagine her dominating him... That would be real awkward. And I'm still in conflict if I should make Xanxus a romantic partner or sibling.

**Sachiel Angelo**- I know what you mean. It happens all the time where a fanfic doesn't update for while, so I forget what had happened... It's annoying... But recaps are also annoying, becuase I can't properly explain everything with the right feeling...

**Squalgasm**- Definite agreement here. At first, I called Squalo sissy because of his long hair (and I've read lots of fanfics talking about his hair products), until I heard his VOIs in the anime. His voice is not really suave, but more guttural... I listened to his character song, Break Out. It was awesome.

**chibigurl305**- I'm not sure about the grammer mistakes, so after another week or so (to clean up my brain) I'll check and edit. Thanks for your comment! I really didn't do the italics before since it was a pain, but since more than one person said so, I felt that I didn't have much thoughts in the first place, so it'd be okay.

**Nina**- Confused... My story flows differently, as in plot, or sentence/paragraph structure? Explain? Do you like my 'flow'? Thanks!


	11. Chapter 10 Riceballs

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

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><p>Chapter 10: Riceballs<p>

The heat was sweltering. It was blistering. It was…

"Too hot…." Tsuna lamented softly. That giant, flaming, ball of gas had triggered even _Tsuna _to get out of her house and travel the dragging, dry, arid minutes to the corner shop for some nice, cold, smooth ice cream. Only to find that they had somehow run out; some random old woman had bought the last packet right before her eyes… She now confirmed that the God above hated her.

Now she was trudging back home, hoping to arrive back before she melted into nothing but a pool of acrid blood. She didn't exactly like the calidity; she was more in tune with the cold. Which was ironic considering she was supposed to have a bit of the sun flame in her. Perhaps it had died out one day as she was growing up?

Either way, it was still too hot. "If only… I had some water…" she moaned, too hot to even talk straight. The heat was getting to her, she was sure of it.

Then, miraculously, a woman riding a mommy bike had stopped right next to her and thrown her a can of soda. "Please have it, if you would like" she smiled, giving a celebrity wink, before biking off. That woman looked suspiciously like someone she had read about before….

Now, if Tsuna had been some weak-willed, foolish idiot, she would've opened the can and drank to her heart's content. But she wasn't. She wasn't exactly the most trusting of teens, especially when having some sort of food given freely to her by a pretty woman who had conveniently arrived when she needed the drink, so she tested the can.

Flicking the can open, she poured a bit of the liquid onto the paved sidewalk. It didn't do the desired 'splash', but more of the 'sizzle'. And that wasn't because of the heat. The liquid had melted into the cement, drizzling down, similar to the effect of her acid guns. If she wasn't who she was, she would have died. Tsuna also had the not so sneaky suspicion that it had something to do with the Vongola. It always did.

She sighed and threw the can behind her shoulder and headed home. She was tired.

And she learned something: God didn't hate her. God wanted her dead.

So exhausted, she hadn't even noticed the crow that—due to the toxic gas excreted from the acidic poison—dropped dead onto the sidewalk.

Arriving back home, back where it wasn't sweltering hot— well, not as hot as outside (They had no air conditioner), Tsuna went up to her room. Reborn would most likely have answers to her question related to that woman. If that lady was going to be a danger to her, which she had already shown full well, then she would need to exterminate the woman before she became another thorn in her life. Tsuna wanted to live a stress-less life, thank you very much.

As soon as she had opened the doors, she came face to face with Reborn, covered with a large amount of beetles.

"Why are there Xylotrupes ulysseses on your body Reborn?" she asked with a deadpan face. She didn't really want to know why such… _harmless _beetles were his minions.

Reborn replied with his own deadpan face.

She rebounded with, "Xylotrupes ulysseses, common rhinoceros beetles. Why would you have them?"

The infant gave a small, snort-like sound before rebutting, "Only someone as Dame as you would know something like that."

Before she could reply to that statement, the bell rang, and someone downstairs was waiting outside. Nana wasn't there, evident by the continuous knocking of the door. So Tsuna was forced to go down and open the doors to somebody, who had better not be one of those door to door salesmen. God were they annoying.

Once the door was opened, the same woman from before appeared and gave that same celebrity smirk and a box of (poisonous) pizza. "Thanks for waiting. A delivery of Vongola pizza" she said.

Tsuna was not amused. The woman had made it painfully obvious which family she was from, and it seemed she was part of the Vongola. '_Part of the family who wants to make sure I don't become the boss?_' Tsuna wondered morbidly, before slamming the door (though that wouldn't help much) at the woman's face.

**WHAM!**

Just like she had predicted, the door could not withstand the kick that was made as it broke open. The woman, once again, stepped in. The only change would be the gas mask she had on as she flipped open the pizza box cover, letting the poisoned air slip out.

With no way to actually reach and kick the box away, Tsuna quickly began to run back to the safety of her room and jump down from the window.

It turns out; she would not have to go through such lengths. Reborn had effectively kicked the box away (letting another three crows sink to the ground), though she had no idea how he had braved the poison. Probably because he was Reborn.

"Ciaossu, Bianchi" Reborn said in a both childish, yet somehow suave voice. Bianchi, immediately enamored by his presence, took of her mask and asked in a slightly nostalgic voice, "Reborn?"

'_Possibly a past lover?'_ Tsuna thought curiously with a slight hint of disgust.

Then with trembling hands, she pulled off her hat and pleaded, "I came here to bring you back. Let's do another big job together, Reborn."

Although Tsuna didn't like seeing females in tears, this woman was really grating on her nerves.

The mood turned fully nostalgic as Bianchi urged, "A peaceful place doesn't suit you. The place you should be is in the dark world, where it's more dangerous and thrilling." Her smirk transformed into a soft smile and her tears stopped flowing, letting them subside onto her long eyelashes.

"I told you Bianchi. I have a job to raise Tsuna, so I can't." Reborn replied in an emotionless tone. The girl started shaking, and her head hung low. At least Tsuna was happy.

'_With Reborn's statement, this Bianchi will leave me, and hopefully stay away'_ Tsuna thought, satisfied. She was not going to let another cause of distress into her life like that.

But to her displeasure, the woman began talking again. "…Poor Reborn. Unless the tenth dies due to an accident or something, Reborn won't be free again" she cried, wiping the tears from her eyes. To Tsuna, that was a direct threat. Her hands fled to her pockets, in case Bianchi would have something else under her sleeve.

Luckily for Tsuna, Bianchi merely left through the door with a final word. "I'll go home for now. When the tenth is mur—When the tenth is dead, I'll come to bring you back again" she concluded, before leaving.

"She's a freelance hitman called Poison Scorpion." Reborn informed her, as Tsuna realized where she read the woman from. It was a long record book listing the various freelance hitmen out there for hire. And according to their sources, wasn't Bianchi… Gokudera's sister? Strange, considering he never mentioned her.

"Bianchi was my lover. The fourth one." Reborn announced loudly, disturbing her out of her thoughts. Tsuna raised an eyebrow and inferred, "So you're a playboy?"

Reborn smirked, and with a smug tone asserted, "You're jealous?"

Tsuna raised another eyebrow and retorted, "In your nightmares."

Reborn frowned, and kicked her on the head with a sweeping impact.

"UGH. Reborn…"

She was ignored, as the hitman left the room.

"…Whatever."

…

"Good Morning, Tsuna-chan!" Kyoko waved brightly, greeting her on the sidewalk. Once in a while, the two would meet up coincidentally walking to school. Whenever that did happen, and the girl was by herself, Kyoko would start clinging to her and talk along the way as if to repent for the numerous times she had been dragged away by her friends. Tsuna didn't mind too much; she wouldn't need to contribute to the conversation with whole stories of her days and other nonsense, and the glittering area surrounding the other calmed her to an extent.

"Today's home economics class is going to be riceballs. I'm so excited!" Kyoko exclaimed brightly. Tsuna answered with a nod of her head.

But before Kyoko could say anything more, the ringing of a small bell was heard and Bianchi, the poison woman came biking beside them shouting, "Those who bother someone's love life should die covered in poison!"

She biked quickly past them whilst throwing two poisoned cans of soda at the two. Tsuna quickly caught them and flung them to the sides, behind some fence. Even if Kyoko was an extremely naïve girl, she didn't want any ideas to sprout out from the female's mind.

The innocent school girl was shocked for certain, and asked with a worried expression, "Was that someone you know?" Tsuna reassured the girl with a shake of her head.

"No, she's no one important."

Kyoko, relieved, nodded her head with a smile.

…

Home economics was okay, she supposed. Unlike other classes the food she made she could eat, so it wouldn't exactly be a waste of effort.

And despite what the boys thought, Tsuna was a good cook. It wasn't like she couldn't be, with Nana as her mother. Since childhood, she had watched her mother cook, and sometimes Nana would invite her. Her mother called it the only form of 'mother daughter bonding' they had together. She had felt guilty then…

Making riceballs had been a cinch, and while Tsuna was still 'Dame-Tsuna', females were considerably nicer to her than the boys. Seeing her skill, they had all decreased her 'dame' level, and crowded around her, asking her for help, advice and such. She didn't find it too irritating; the girls in her class were more demure, rather than those of the upper classmen. Now they were truly annoying. But that wasn't the point. If the girls were kept away from handsome boys, they were fine.

Tsuna supposed she should blame herself for her idiotic nickname. Back then, she had skipped half the school days, so no one really knew about her cooking skills…

"Tsuna-chan, how do you get it in such a nice shape?"

"Tsuna-chan, do you think this looks good enough?"

"Wow! Yours look so perfect Tsuna-chan!"

Then again, they were aggravating with their insistent chattering.

When they had finally received enough information to quell their desires, they shifted back to their original areas, determined to make their own, 'as lovely as hers' to the boy they desired to hand them to. Tch.

Beside her, Kyoko was still working hard on hers, though to no avail…

But Tsuna couldn't stand the sight of the girl, biting her lip while trying to form the triangular shape with tears ready to fall. She sighed before asking, "Would you like some help?"

Immediately, Kyoko brightened before replying, "Yes Please!" accompanied by a cheerful nod.

Tsuna, already finished with her riceballs, began coaching the other, step by step for the duration of the class period.

…

The girls stood in formation as they all screamed out, "We'll give the riceballs we made in home economics class to you boys!"

They were echoed back a triumphant whoop of felicity. And so, riceballs were given out to the boys, who were nothing but pleased.

Back in class, Gokudera and Yamamoto stuck themselves close to her side as soon as she had entered the room. "What a weird event." Gokudera snorted, yet looking at her with begging eyes before shifting back, then moving them back at her again, repeatedly.

At least Yamamoto was more direct. "Hey Tsuna, can I have one of your riceballs?" he asked with no hesitation along with a grin.

"Like Juudaime would ever give one of her beautiful riceballs to you!" Gokudera snarled quickly. Tsuna was undisturbed and nodded as Yamamoto gratefully took a riceball.

"Sure, I have three." She wasn't a glutton, and riceballs weren't her favored dish anyway. It was too bad Gokudera didn't see it that way, as he directed her a kicked puppy dog look, along with the miserable-looking eyes. Tsuna wordlessly handed him another one of her riceballs, and his look brightened quickly.

Kyoko then appeared in front of him with a bashful expression. "Do you want them, Tsuna-chan?" She held in front of her riceballs… that weren't the ones they made together? It was purple, and had small insects mixed into them. Bianchi's ploy no doubt.

"What~ That's not fair, Dame-Tsuna's a girl!" the male percentage of the class whined aloud. Apparently they hadn't noticed the riceballs at all.

'_Idiots_' Tsuna mentally berated, disgusted at their actions, before raising an eyebrow at the girl standing in front of her. Did Kyoko really not notice the difference?

Normally, Gokudera would have noticed it and refute the 'gift' for her. But he was busy, surrounded by the multitude of girls trying to get him to eat their riceballs. It seems he was dragged by the female horde into the far corner on the other side of the room. Useless.

Interpreting Tsuna's silence as a rejection, Kyoko gave a saddened face and said, "Oh, I didn't do well, did I?"

Tsuna clicked her tongue, annoyed, and with the happiest expression she could muster, said, "Oh no! They're lovely, I feel bad for all the other men who're vying for your attention. I'll bring them home and share them with my mom!"

Kyoko's expression lifted, though she still looked a little depressed; Tsuna didn't know why… But it was becoming very bothersome.

Holding back her exasperation, Tsuna lifted her lips into another half grin and asked, "Well, do you want mine? I have one more left, and you deserve it anyway. You… worked hard today." She encouraged the wide eyed girl in front of her to take her remaining riceball, even if it was the only one left… Well, at least she still had her lovely lunch right? Right. She sighed again.

Her benevolent act had made Kyoko happy at least, as the girl agreed with sparkling eyes. All was well.

…

Two lone shadows stood in frustration. One on the school roof, another behind the classroom doors.

…

Bianchi's plan had failed, and she angrily stomped away, already plotting the next assassination attempt.

…

Putting down his large gun, Reborn glared at the innocent Kyoko with annoyed eyes before continuing to watch Tsuna from afar. Dame-Tsuna was too nice to innocent girls; he needed to change that a bit. Hiding a smirk, Reborn planned out their next few 'training sessions' together. Then frowned as his stomach grumbled.

He really had a craving for riceballs right now.

* * *

><p>AN: **IMPORTANT!**

Firstly, hope you like the chapter, and review and criticize (nicely)!

**Secondly**, I'll probably be updating biweekly, (once every two weeks) maybe sooner... depends.

**Thirdly,**

I (right after I post this up) will post up a poll! For who Tsuna should be with more. Of course, I will have most pairings, just these are the more flexible ones that can have an either weaker or stronger bond, depending on this poll. The ones (Hibari) who are not on the poll are basically the ones whose chapters relationship I have already set, or I just won't be putting them in.

ALSO- I have made a decision. I will use either **Xanxus OR Squalo** as a romantic partner. So I am asking you to pick either Xanxus or Squalo, with multiple choices for other characters. I ask you not to choose both- that just wastes your choices. If there are no votes for either (which I doubt) then I will choose myself.

The poll will be up for a while. I will tell you when I will be taking it off. If a person has no votes, I will decide. You cannot see the current votes, but I will occasionally post the rankings when I find a substantial change.


	12. Chapter 11 It Runs in the Family

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

* * *

><p>Chapter 11: It Runs in the Family<p>

The insufferable summer heat was at its climax, and Tsuna was miserable. Never had Japan been plagued with such madness; this year just seemed to be particularly inviting of the sun's direct rays. It was mortifying.

But, to her gratification, Nana had installed an air conditioner in her room; afraid her poor daughter would have heat stroke and possibly faint from the incredible warmth. God bless her, Nana was so caring.

So Tsuna, after retrieving popsicles for her and Reborn, went climbing up the stairs to her room. But as she franticly pushed open the door to let the cool air blow against her, she stared at the baby with mixed emotions. He was lounging there, in some sort of hakama with a fan, an assortment of seafood in a glass bowl and a cup of udon noodles. She was fixated on the baby and totally dismissed the sleeping Lambo, who she had shoved to the side while opening the door. (To her case, he was sleeping; the baby didn't even wake up.)

As her eyes stood rigidly at Reborn, jealousy and betrayal overcame her. Jealousy, for it would've been heaven, to relax in a comfortable air conditioned room with some summer delights. And betrayal, for while she was braving the heat and even went through the trouble of bringing a popsicle for Reborn, here he was, all comfy in _her_ room… Her tutor could be so selfish sometimes; it flooded over her small, short, nice moments with him.

Still, he was her tutor, or trainer, in many aspects. He helped maintain her body, and his daily sessions improved her strength, speed, evasion, and (pain) endurance. She threw him a popsicle while unwrapping hers. He deserved that much.

Her duty finished, she began sucking on the delightful sugar-filled treat with rapture. Ah, the mouth-watering dessert made her tongue all the more furious. She let her tongue scale the creamy pole slowly, up and down, savoring its vanilla goodness in her mouth. That left her wanting more; the small melted portions of the cream were unsatisfying. She began sucking the top, swirling her tongue around the tip leaving her with numbing ecstasy.

Soon, her patience wore off. Wanting even more of the taste in her mouth, she bit off the top, letting it melt into her throat.

Delicious. She was going to perform that came ritual to the remaining bottom portion of her treat, pleased to see that it was not dripping down to her fingertips. No, the cream had only begun to melt, its semi-solid forms inch by inch shifting downwards to the bottom. Ravenously, she swooped down and sucked up the almost dripping cream into her hot cavern.

Reborn quickly tore his eyes away as soon as Tsuna had glanced at him from the side. She didn't need to know what her little play had done to him… Heck, he didn't want to know. He didn't want to feel his hormones on full-drive, his mouth dry with anticipation at what her tongue could do to _him: his old, mature mind_. No he didn't want to know.

Ripping the wrapper hastily, he fiercely bit off a portion in hopes of filling his uncontrollable thirst.

It helped, but his mind was still filled with want. Oh, if he were in his _real _body, if he could show her what a _real_ adult was, if he could just slowly entice her into… No!

He mentally ripped the image out of his mind and chewed up the mess of cream in his mouth. His body was sated, but his mind… It was sickening. How she could affect his mind so much. How could she invade his thoughts, filling it with only things that were unreachable to him? _How?_ He would never be able to have her with his current body. If only there was a way…

Those miserable thoughts were broken away with a girlish yell.

"Tsuna! Did you want some of my special seafood dish? I have some for you too!" Bianchi called out while holding an obviously poisoned bowl of whatever it was. Tsuna viewed the dead beetles, worms, and frog in the bowl with subtle distaste.

With a bored voice she asked the woman, "Just what are you doing here?"

"For love" Bianchi voiced out.

"It's for work." Reborn smoothly spoke. The woman's murderous voice aimed at Tsuna had brought him back into his usual sadistic train of thought.

"Reborn needs me." Bianchi hummed out in a lovesick tone.

"I asked Bianchi to tutor you partly." Reborn calmly informed.

'_They're annoying_.' Tsuna thought blandly.

…

The distance between the two were great; even to say that they were speaking different languages. Reborn was straightforwardly refuting her claims, while Bianchi was ignorantly gushing out her proclamations of love. They would never work out as a couple Tsuna knew, even with the minimal love she had given and took in her short life.

Then, as if to boast to her beloved one Bianchi announced to the girl, "What I am cooking now is Poison Cooking II. Twice the killing rate!" She held up two fingers to prove her point.

Tsuna felt sorry for anyone who would be victimized to taste (or see) such a concoction. Her thoughts only furthered her demise.

"I'll be assisting you in home economics and art. We will be conducting a home economics experiment, so I'll be in the kitchen preparing" Bianchi informed her with a smile before disappearing downstairs, possibly laying out multiple poisonous specimens found from who knows where in the world. Her kitchen would not survive the onslaught…

She tried, only weakly to convince her tutor not to condemn her. "Reborn, I already know how to cook." Tsuna half pleaded, hoping to save herself from the crazy woman downstairs.

It was (predictably) to no avail, as Reborn merely responded with the slurping of his noodles. The sound, along with the smug look on the baby's face urged Tsuna to throw her finished popsicle stick at his face. But with great willpower, she held it in (most likely fearing the punishment she would receive if she did so) and threw it in the trashcan.

A loud call rang out, wiping away her visions of the dreaded dropkicks that came from nowhere, falling upon her head.

"JUUDAIME!"

Now, her mind spun quickly, away from the tortures of her tutor, to the mild curiosity of her loyal 'friend'. Just how would he interact with his 'sister'? (According to her information at least.)

Walking downstairs, she was greeted with the sight of her stylishly dressed and relaxed (around her) subordinate, holding a net with a perfectly round watermelon up. Tsuna perked up at the juicy fruit held in front of her.

"Juudaime! Would you like some watermelon? It's supposed to be very sweet!" Gokudera chimed brightly, and Tsuna just as eagerly agreed.

"Yeah! Gokudera, just where did buy this Sugar Baby Watermelon? It looks delicious, we can cut it now." She smiled at him happily, intent on bringing the lovely fruit to her living room. (The kitchen was otherwise… occupied.)

Gokudera responded with a large blush and stuttering at the praise he received from his boss. His skin had reached a bright pink red, before it suddenly dropped to a freezing white. Stuttering turned to stammering as the boy froze in place. Tsuna watched confused at his abrupt transformation. What could excite such a reaction from the boy?

With a tremble, the watermelon dropped from his hands. In reality, it would've been an 'fwush', then 'plop' on the floor. But Tsuna saw it differently. For her, it went in slow motion, falling to the ground; to its tragic end.

Instinctively, she dove to the ground, keeping her back to the floor as she cushioned the watermelon on her stomach with her hands keeping it in place. It rocked slowly around the edge, almost pattering out onto the hardwood floor before rolling back into the center of her stomach. She let out a sigh of relief before directing a confused glance at Gokudera, who was still in shock, not even noticing his 'boss' on the floor right beside him.

The only word he spoke was the terrified gasp of, "O-Onee-san…"

Tsuna looked at the direction the boy was staring at, to see Bianchi, holding a bowl of… something, with Reborn right next to her. So she was right. Bianchi was his sister.

But the mystery was still unsolved. Why had Gokudera's face crunched up into that of agony? How did Bianchi's arrival relate to such an action? Just what had happened between them, for such a strong reaction to have been shown?

Gokudera's stomach then gave out a large groaning noise—similar to that of intense hunger, or pain—as he fell on her, though balancing himself with a hand.

The only problem was where he laid his hand… Now, Tsuna never did had the troubles of perverts on the crowded trains that groped a females buttocks, nor did she ever know a boy that interacted with her in that way. But she was pretty sure that even nowadays, this action would be considered inappropriate. Or to put it frankly: his hand had sought balance, on her chest.

At least her chest had been pressed down almost flat by her wrappings. Most likely, he was too much in shock, and since her chest wasn't the largest, he hadn't thought about it. His eyes didn't seem to notice where he placed his hand…Well, she hoped he wouldn't. Ever: it wasn't exactly the best thing that happened to her. Her embarrassment was at its peak right now, though she made sure not to show it. That would have been much worse; to have Reborn seeing her embarrassed over a mere boy touching her.

She would not let him have his blackmail.

So with the calmest face she could manage (which was pretty calm), she pushed Gokudera's arm off of her while placing the watermelon on the floor and standing up. The boy was still oblivious to her actions, shocked into silence.

The only thing he did was run away with his face contorted in suffering.

That left the three: Tsuna, Reborn, and Bianchi in the corridor, each with a different reaction. Reborn was still his ever present self—well he also had this strange expression on him, it was hard to tell what it was for some reason. Perhaps he was trying to hide it?

Bianchi had a thoughtful expression—which Tsuna found most unusual. Just what sister would react that way to their younger brothers, despite the natural sparks that happen between normal siblings of opposite genders (especially when the female is the elder)? But no, Bianchi merely gave a smile.

"He's always been like that. Strange child."

"…"

It really disgusted her a bit, to see such nonchalant, ignorant reactions from an elder sibling concerning their younger. The woman really had a heart as poisonous as her food; or she just simply would not care enough to understand her brother's pain. Both reasons rang angrily in Tsuna's mind.

It was decided. She now disliked the woman on a personal level.

"So Reborn, is she really his elder sister? They don't look similar at all—beyond the physical attractiveness of her bodies." She drawled, still trying to convince herself to run after Gokudera. (She just couldn't… the sun was _blaring_ out there!)

"Yep. With different moms." Reborn answered knowingly, continuing to slurp at his bowl of noodles.

The sound of the slick threads of dough rubbing against his mouth, the sound of the vacuum sucking the gold strands into its cavern, the monotonous, loud, repetitive sound was too strong a foe for her. So with a twitch in her eye, she quickly stumbled out the doors and into the hellfire in search of her companion, who might be in a collapsed bundle somewhere…

The hunt ended quickly; it turned out he was at a nearby shrine, leaning against the trunk of a tree. It was a sigh of relief, to see he wasn't unconscious or worse.

Cautiously approaching the boy, Tsuna leaned in behind and whispered softly her concern.

"Are you okay?"

The small breath sent a pleasant chill up his neck as Gokudera's entire face lit hot red, and with a twirl he faced her with wide eyes, all traces of his pain gone, replaced with an unparalleled embarrassment and shock.

"J-Juudaime! What are you doing here?" he stuttered, hands cuffing his adorably red ears with force. His surprise was not hard to see.

Tsuna waited silently under the cool shadow of the tree branches, patient for the boy to snap out of his astonishment and gather the courage to look her in the eyes. She would know when that happened; it was excruciatingly easy to sense a powerful stare coming her way, and Gokudera's glares were the epitome of force. Well, most of the time, when he wasn't bowing in shame, regret, or self-hatred. And his glares could still fall under hers, as well as… Never mind. She didn't want to think too much of him now.

So with half-lidded eyes she leaned against the smooth bark and rested while the thick branches shielded her from the sun's glare.

But it seemed a while had passed and still, there was no stare coming her way. To her keen ears, Gokudera hadn't even moved, nor did he crumble to the ground in returning pain.

She opened her eyes and gazed at where his face should be, according to her memory. And just as she predicted, his face was there, but his eyes were a bit lower; not straight at her. Just what was he looking at? With a raised brow she peered down at the direction he was staring at, coming downwards to her… chest.

This time, she could no longer hold in her blush. A light tint of pink graced her face, though it was hardly visible, with her tanned complexion accompanied by the shade of the tree. Lucky for her, wasn't it? Gokudera's hadn't noticed her humiliation as he continued to stare avidly at her torso.

Letting out a cough, Tsuna glanced admonishingly at the boy, though it was not enough to garner his attention. In fact, nothing she could do dissuaded him from her chest as his face scrunched up into one of extreme concentration, like the introspection of a prisoner while looking at their cell. It was beginning to annoy her.

It was only when she impatiently covered her chest with an arm did he even move. Gokudera's face heated to an extreme as he stared in horror at the palms of his hands. Tsune hoped it wasn't what it seemed. She hoped the boy hadn't remembered what had transpired before…

But, it was to say, most of her dreams were dashed, diced, and shred into bits and pieces.

"J-Juudaime!" he muttered in utter horror. His gaze went from his hand, to her chest, and back. The red blush threatened to conquer his face, remembering the obscene actions he had done to his Juudaime.

Then abruptly, he threw himself to the ground and gave a deep bow. Tsuna was relieved no one was there watching. "I'm sorry, for having violated you, Juudaime! Please, I cannot be forgiven for my transgressions." He whimpered aloud, his head still firmly crushed to the ground in sheer guilt. He didn't have the courage to loon up at her (most likely) furious expression.

Tsuna ignored his self-beating; while she was embarrassed, there was nothing she could do to reverse time. She just wanted him to stop making a fool of himself. With an exhausted sigh, she tried to calm the frantic boy down. "Gokudera, its fine. I'm not angry; neither at you nor anyone else. So stand up and tell me about your relationship with your sister."

The mention of his sister sent Gokudera grasping his stomach in nausea. The pain hadn't returned, but his imagination brought forth the memory. But despite that, the bomber buried his embarrassment in order to answer her.

'_Juudaime asked me a question. I can't disappoint her!_' was his fired conviction, as he began telling his story.

"I used to live with my sister until I was 8," he started gravely. Tsuna did not speak. Long distance relationships strained the bond, Tsuna knew, but she wasn't going to interrupt his retelling; they would probably go off in a tangent.

"At our castle, we used to have lots of luxurious parties, but when I was eight, I was supposed to perform the piano in front of everyone" he continued. Now she silently pitied him. Most kids didn't have the nerves to perform in that kind of situation; even elder musicians might be nervous to play in front of a crowd of finely dressed men and women, in a castle. Tsuna paid close attention, curious as to the outcome of his performance.

Gokudera gave a small shiver as he recounted, "That time, my sister baked cookies for me for the first time. She came up to me and landed me a plate of cookies, telling me, 'I baked these for you. Eat it.'"

Tsuna sweat dropped at Bianchi's straightforward demands. Bossy by nature, perhaps?

"I didn't find out until afterwards… But my sister possesses the skill to make all of her cooking poisonous. So of course, as soon as I ate the cookies, I experienced extreme nausea and dizziness. And the piano performance was outrageous."

It would be after all, considering what he ate. Tsuna was just surprised he could still play; she imagined him dropping to the floor, unconscious.

"But that was only the beginning," Gokudera muttered with an aura of dismay. "My act was rated highly in the end. They said, 'How abstract! Wonderful!'" he groaned in horror. And to further his point, he waved his hands wildly in the air, showing the absolute craziness of the people.

Then Gokudera's mood grew even darker.

"And my father, in such a good mood, wanted me to perform even more. He told my sister to make the cookies again… I had to eat her cookies every time, and in the end the terror traumatized my body. Now, every time I look at her, I get stomach aches" he concluded with a pained look on his face.

"I HATE HER." Gokudera growled angrily. She was his sister, but she was also his greatest weakness. It was degrading.

Tsuna twitched, the tips of her lips curling down as she snorted. "Gokudera, don't you think it's sad, to hate your own sister?"

The boy's shock was portrayed quite clearly on his face. "B-But Juudaime!"

"Of course, I shouldn't be telling you what to do. Whether you hate her or not is none of my business. I don't really care." Tsuna affirmed. Because in reality, it was not. She didn't need to worry about him; Gokudera seemed fine hating his sister. She had her own problems to worry about. Like her ever distancing relationship with her adoptive brothers. And Reborn.

What should have been relief: that Tsuna didn't mind his opinions. Instead, it became a few thousand pricks in his chest. Gokudera winced a bit in pain as he repeated the words in his head.

'…_She doesn't care...?'_

He didn't know why, but hearing that come from her sent a numbing sensation to his heart. Of course she wouldn't care right? He wasn't that important to her… But she saved his life, even to the extent of endangering herself in the process.

Just what was he to her?

…

Nevertheless, he owed her his life. And it's not like she hates him, right? She cared enough about him to be a friend; that was enough.

Gokudera buried her words in his mind, trying to ignore them for now. Right now, all he wanted was to get rid of his sister. He masked his face into a neutral look before asking Tsuna, "Juudaime, can you please drive my sister out of this town?"

His words snapped Tsuna out of her thoughts, and she peered up at him thoughtfully. "Why not. She causes more trouble than I need, anyway."

Those words abated Gokudera's erratic nerves; everything seemed normal now. Like what she said had never happened. That her words had not hurt him as much as it did. Yes, he liked it better this way.

"I have a plan!" the bomber exclaimed happily, sporting a wide grin. "Before my sister fell in love with Reborn, she had a man she was obsessed with. He died due to an accident, but my sister still can't get over him. So all we need to do is find a guy that looks like her ex, and when she sees him, she'll chase him to the end of the world!" he finished proudly.

"…"

Her opinion of him had just dropped to the deepest abyss. She had really believed that such an intelligent boy would have come up with a less… moronic plan.

Then he pulled out a photo. With a smirk, he handed it to her. "This is the photo of the ex boyfriend."

As soon as she stared at the image, Tsuna's impression of him had soared into the clouds. She tousled his silky hair in glee, with his enjoying it all the way.

"Well done, Gokudera."

…

Tsuna quickly snuck past Bianchi, who was preparing some sort of deadly dish in the kitchen. She pushed open the door to her room, letting the comfortable cool air settle into her skin, before roaming the floor for her child.

Lambo was just as she remembered he was; right beside the door, asleep.

Shaking the infant awake, Tsuna asked the drowsy boy for his bazooka. "Lambo, lend me your ten year bazooka."

She didn't expect him to say no to her.

Lambo began sweating profusely, tears leaking from his eyes. "L-Lambo never shot the ten year bazooka" he replied, shakily. The tears, sweat, combined with his furiously shaking head and his eyes that could not look directly at her made it easy to tell he was lying. Not that she wouldn't have known even if he wasn't so obvious. Something told her he wasn't supposed to use the bazooka. But then again, what family gives their child a weapon, not to be used?

"L-Lambo's going to sleep" The baby stuttered, faking (badly) a sleeping position. It couldn't be more lucid. He always slept with her.

Well, she knew all about Lambo. As soon as she leaves for Reborn, he'll come running to her, along with a weapon at Reborn. Reborn would effortlessly deflect his attack. He'll cry, use the bazooka, and that was all. Now usually she wouldn't do such a thing to a baby, but it's not like he would get hurt. Lambo's ten years older self was not the 5 years old Lambo. Any injuries that might happen (especially with Bianchi there) the 15 years old Lambo should be able to handle.

So Tsuna calmly left the room, heading outside to find Reborn. The hitman wouldn't be too hard to find; he always appeared around her randomly.

And just as she had said, Reborn was outside, in the backyard with miniature swimming pool. It was funny really. The great Reborn, top hitman and assassin—going swimming in a kids bloat up pool.

"Hey Rebor—"

Her sentence was incepted by a loud yell, from above. Lambo was standing on the roof.

Tsuna wasn't worried; Lambo falling from two stories up was common in her life. But then the foolish child gave a charge yelling, "DIE REBORN! With the stun gun I got from boss, zap away!" He jumped off the roof, holding his stun gun. His fully charged, on, stun gun.

Now she was worried. If he landed in Reborn's pool…

SPLASH

**ZAAAP**

"GYAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Sparks went flying as the area was surrounded by a white light.

Just how high was its voltage? But that wasn't important: Was Lambo dead? If he was, it'd be her fault…

"Gyaaaaaaa~"

BOOM

"…"

By some miracle, he wasn't dead. Tsuna didn't know why or how, but Lambo had apparently, in the mist of the electricity, started crying and used the ten year bazooka on himself. Out came the 15 year old Lambo, soaking wet in the pool.

Tsuna admitted; the Lambo, with his almost transparent wet clothes that stuck to his olive skin was enticing. Not that she liked him that way; their relationship was purely platonic. She was just referring to his physical attractiveness. Once he matured to an adult, Lambo would look beautifully handsome.

But none of that; she had business to do.

Inhaling a large amount of air, Tsuna hollered, "Bianchi! Come quick! Reborn has something to say to you!"

Bianchi instantly appeared in front of the door with her bowl of who-knows-what in hand, sparkles in her eyes. Her adoration was officious at times (another way she related to Gokudera), but in these situations, it helped a great deal.

Lambo was still confused, sprayed out in the pool, so Bianchi's attention was drawn directly to him. Normally, Tsuna would find the idea of a 'dead lover risen from the overworld' impossible to believe. But this was Bianchi; for her, love really did make the world go round.

Bianchi stood with wide eyes, taking in the sight.

"Romeo!" she cried out, as if questioning whether it truly was him or not. Lambo (the child still had not come back from his shock) rubbed his head, disoriented.

Then the woman's eyes shed tears as she ran towards the teen. "Romeo! Your alive! Romeo~" she cried out to her past lover.

Only to run past him, though not before slamming her bowl of substance onto the teen's face whilst yelling out "POISON COOKING II!"

Tsuna turned to Reborn for answers. She was given a simple, "It seems like right before Bianchi broke up with him, they had a horrible relationship. Every time she thinks of him, she gets upset."

"…"

Gokudera had not done his research properly.

Tsuna grumbled to herself what she had to go through each day before peering at the possibly unconscious boy, to see if he was okay.

He wasn't.

It had been a one hit KO, with Lambo's face covered by the rice/insect mix. It almost looked as if he was foaming from the mouth.

"…He'll live" Tsuna predicted, and quickly left the area before the infant Lambo returned, promising another round of crying (caused by Reborn no doubt).

She went to Gokudera and retold her findings with an exasperated look. Gokudera returned her an equally grim look before informing her, "I heard the reason why her ex died was due to food poisoning."

"…Is that so?"

That was all she said, before Tsuna angrily walked away from her stupid subordinate, leaving the boy to himself. Sometimes, she really doubted his so called, 'genius intelligence'. Had he no logic, or at least common sense? It didn't seem like it.

…

Even if the plan had not worked out the way she would've wanted it, that didn't matter. It turned out that Tsuna's wish would be fulfilled. Bianchi had left the town to some mountain somewhere, claiming to 'go catch eel for Reborn'.

Maybe Reborn was her saint?

Or maybe Bianchi was a lot more similar to Gokudera than she had thought.

* * *

><p>AN: I hope you liked this chapter (filler, according to my friend). Please review, comment, and criticize.

To those who did read the full thing, was the lemon(ish) okay? My first time, so I wasn't so sure.

**I have some Reborn/Tsuna in this chapter, but I'm sorry to say that the Xanxus/Tsuna has yet to come. But please, if you could give me some ideas, or what you think their relationship would be, it might help me... I can't seem to do anything nowadays.**

And...

_Poll Ranking:_

1. Xanxus! (So not a sibling relationship anymore huh)

2. Reborn (YEAH!)

3. Mukuro (Eh... He's pretty cool... Perverted though)

4. Alaude (YES!)

5. Byakuran + Giotto + Yamamoto (TIED... Not what I expected)

6. Fon + Belphegor + Collonello (Fon being highest and Collonello)

7. Gokudera (Mah, I actually expected this.)

8. Squalo (He'll be... uh... well, sibling.)

9. Ryohei + Spanner (Not many ideas anyway.)

10. Kyoko + Chrome (Kyoko being higher) I like Chrome...

11. Basil Irie Skull (They're at the bottom... Damn it.)

**SO: XANXUS WILL BE THE ROMANTIC PARTNER + SQUALO THE SIBLING/MOTHER HEN/?**


	13. Chapter 12 Revenge is as Sweet as Soap

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

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><p>Chapter 12: Revenge is as Sweet as Soap<p>

It was another grueling day for little Tsuna.

After a few hours of training, another few hours of mental training, lunch, dinner, and all the chaos Tsuna had been subjected to, she was tired in both mind and body. The five year-old was too small, too frail, too weak (as everyone else had said), to put up with much of their training, and she couldn't do anything about it. They had disregarded her predicament and _munificently_ forced her to fight them. Meaning they tortured her while she attempted to run away from the numerous knives, sword, bullets, etc.

But no, her adoptive brothers didn't care. No, they demanded her run farther than them, and even mocked her, calling her a 'weak little girl who stunk of her mamma's milk'.

She was going to get back at them one day…

Of course, her wishes wouldn't be happening soon. The distance between her abilities and theirs were far too great, she had to admit. And before any revenge could be put into action, she had to first start getting the feel of her body back.

"Ughh~~~" she cried out in frustration, still attempting to move her arm.

Tsuna groaned, sighing, when she saw her pinky finger twitch for a second. That is, she would've, if she wasn't feeling the slight sting that came with the minuscule movement. This would take a long time… And she (sadly) didn't have that. She pouted.

"This isn't fair" she whined aloud.

"Life isn't fair, Trash" was an unpredicted response.

Miraculously, her head turned (and it wasn't painful! Her body must've only been affected below neck) and faced the gruff baritone voice, which she was sure belonged to her brother, Xan-niichan. After all, this was his room.

Giving the brightest smile she could manage, she beamed up maliciously at the figure in front of her. "Welcome back, Xan-niichan!" she called out with a throbbing vein on her forehead.

Her only response was a twitch and a small murmur. "…Trash." Her brother wasn't the most expressive person out there, but she liked him like that. He could stay that grumpy, mean-looking, name-calling, rough, bad-tempered, rude person and she wouldn't mind. After all, they were (sort of) siblings.

"Trash, go to bed." Xanxus grounded out before slipping into his king sized bed.

Tsuna pouted. "But Xan-niichan. I haven't showered. Or brushed my teeth. Or washed my face. Or-"

Her mouth (well really her whole face) was smothered with a large hand as her brother growled out, "Then do whatever the hell you want. Don't bother me."

She let her lips quiver as she looked up as him with sad, (and was there a tint of viciousness?) eyes. "But Xan-niichan. I can't move my body after what you did with me… Take a bath with me?"

Xanxus's narrow eyes widened slightly; a light hue of pink ravaged his cheeks. Then his face grew red in anger (at least that was what she thought) as he bellowed, "Trash, get a maid to do that for you!"

Her eyes grew bored, calm almost, as she responded aloofly, "I don't trust strangers to take a bath with me."

"You're too old to take a bath with a male!"

"Iemitsu forced me to take a shower with him whenever he visits." She retorted.

'_That is, with Nana and me.' _She voiced in her head. But he didn't need to know that.

"Just get in the damn tub and drown yourself." Xanxus growled, his veins pulsing red. Tsuna let out a small giggle. Her brother was so fun to play with sometimes.

"You wouldn't want that to happen to me, would you? And you didn't take a shower yet, right? This kills two birds with one bullet!" She batted her lashes and let her eyes take on that sparkly gleam that had fell many others in their goal.

Xanxus snarled, staring into her unnervingly large eyes, before giving a loud growl.

"Get in the tub, Trash" was his final answer before getting off the bed and stripping his shirt, throwing it down onto the floor beside him.

Tsuna relaxed, her body loosening in accomplishment.

She waited as he stomped over to her and hefted her over his back like a sack of potatoes. The air in her lungs stopped circulating for a second as it hit her bruised stomach and Tsuna whined in pain. Xanxus ignored her.

Once in the large bathroom, she was lifted to the ground and with rough hands, Xanxus tore off her shirt and shorts. Lightning wracked its way throughout her body by the forceful movements, and Tsuna hissed involuntarily.

Her 'brother' noticed this, and predictably did nothing but snort in scoff. "Only trash like you would need help taking a bath."

Tsuna frowned. It had only been three days, and she still hadn't gotten him to stop calling her derogatory names. He probably never would change that fact, but it was hard to handle sometimes. Her ire was a bit too strong at the moment, and she was at the thin edge of snapping. Her body was bruised, her head throbbing, the muscles were stressed, and her playful mood gone. She needed a more loving nature right now.

Like Nana.

It was times like these when her mother was truly appreciated. (Well, that and when she was hungry.) She wouldn't tolerate him right now. She couldn't giggle when he so obviously saw her pain, and berated her for it.

So the poor child let out all her steam all at once. Her mouth opened slightly before she snapped at him.

"Don't you realize that females have delicate bodies, rather than your rock of a leg you use to kick others with? I'm sore, treat me gently!"

Xanxus sneered at her before snarling out, "Trash will always be trash." The gruff teen lifted her up before tossing her lightly (after all, he would have been in massive trouble if the girl was injured) into the tub before climbing in after her.

The petite girl landed on her arse with a cry of pain before growling at the smirking teen. "That does it!"

With a howl of warning, she jumped and pounced, ignoring the agony that shocked her body. Xanxus, who had been unprepared, widened his eyes in surprise, before he was thrown back against the side of the tub by her naked body. He grunted in shock before staring down at the child.

Tsuna's legs and arms were hugging his firm chest, grabbing it as it were a lifeline. However, her head was tilted down, her face invisible as her small body trembled.

The violent teen really didn't care what she was doing. He hadn't even realized that he should have been as furious as the burning flames of hell. All he knew was that her small shape clung tightly to him, and close to his… manhood. Xanxus's face grew red on his tanned face as his voice grew loud.

"**TRASH GET OFF!"**

What Xanxus didn't know was that Tsuna was in immense pain. Her body shook uncontrollably, her face pale. She supposed what she had done was foolish of her. That her natural intelligence had failed her, blinded by irritation, and she was paying the price.

There was no way she would detach herself from the body she clung to. There was no way she would even try to shift her stressed muscles even a bit.

So she did the only thing she could do: Hold still until Xanxus calmed down enough to gently bring her to her bed. Or to hold still until Xanxus wrested her off him and throw her far away from his proximity. She much preferred the first choice.

Yet fate had different plans. A bang was heard, before the door to the bathroom was knocked down as a screaming white haired teen barged in.

"VOOOOI! What the fuck is going on Boss?"

The stupid Squalo came running in with his full Varia attire, holding his sword in his hands. His keen eyes looked around for any sense of danger, until they finally landed on the two in the large ed

It made a very confusing picture, and reach an even more confusing conclusion.

Squalo's eyes widened to enormous measures as his pale skin burned a rose red hue. His gruff voice let out a stutter, letting his mind fill up with wild assumptions.

Tsuna stared at him in confusion (Why in the world would his face be red? Embarrassment? Anger? Jealousy?) while Xanxus growled aloud as he realized his predicament.

"Oi Trash, what the fuck are you thinking about!" he yelled in fury.

The silver-haired teen sputtered replying, "W-What? What do you think I'm thinking? I see you in the damn tub, naked, with the brat latched on your fucking stomach! What the hell do you think I'm seeing?"

Xanxus's anger was apparent, even if there was no empty whisky bottle being thrown at the subordinate (due to the fact that he had no wine to throw). No, her big brother had settled on taking out his guns (Tsuna had no idea where they came from) and shot with rampage at the flustered silver-head.

A mere detail stood in the way of Xanxus's fury: Squalo was a Varia member. All members had to be considered Varia quality by the boss, and a fool who couldn't dodge a simple bullet would have been dead long ago. Most likely at their first meeting with Xanxus.

With a shaky grace, Squalo dodged the oncoming bullets, moving across the tiled floor in jumps, slides and leaps. Unfortunately, he didn't take into account the water splashed on the floor (courtesy of Xanxus throwing Tsuna into the tub), thus making it as slippery as soap (after the solvent combined with the body wash the somehow spilled onto the floor).

In less than seconds, Squalo's boots had slid on the tiles as he fell face-first into the bathtub.

_**SPLASH**_

…

His head first came up, hacking and coughing up the water that had filled his mouth and nose. The heavy, water-soaked uniform weighed him down, and his hair fell flat, covering his eyes.

Xanxus and Tsuna smirked at the hysterical image.

As soon as he had the ability to speak, the enraged, soaking wet Squalo did so. "VOOOOI What the fuck was that for?" he yelled with a raspy voice, before coughing up a bit more water. His dark grey eyes glared murderously at the nonchalant boss.

Xanxus didn't deem his question important enough for a response as the boss settled comfortably into the water.

Squalo's narrowed eyes grew even more enraged before turning to the still naked girl in front of him.

"Tell me why the hell you're taking a bath with Boss. Naked."

Tsuna answered all of his questions, and perhaps even more, in an orderly fashion.

"It's partially your fault I have this enormous pain whenever I move. And I haven't taken my bath yet. What do you think I'm doing now? Xan-niichan had decided to take responsibility for his actions and brought me here. And how else am I supposed to take a bath? Like you?" She made a point by looking at his sopping wet jacket.

It was embarrassing to be outwitted by a 5 year old Squalo knew (Especially when he was the strategist of the team). Before he could retort anything back, Tsuna interfered.

"While you're here, you might as well take a bath with us. After all, this bathtub is big enough for a family, and you haven't showered yet, right?" She finished herself up with a bright, adorably cute smile that showed her soft eyes that seemed to emanate purity.

Squalo stood no chance.

With a sigh, the second in command did so; stripping off his jacket, taking of his shirt and tie, though still keeping his pants on. Tsuna didn't know why, but she figured he was strange like that. The teen let his head lean on the side of the tub as the rest of his body sunk lower into the warm pool.

Xanxus gave no reaction of displeasure, so Tsuna deemed it fine.

It was a comfortable few minutes of silence.

…

In an almost conversational drawl, Tsuna voiced out a question. "Squal-niichan, would you be kind enough to pull me away from Xan-niichan? I really would not like to move."

Squalo was still basking in the tepid water with closed eyes as he gave a lazy, "N-"

"Squal-niichan…sniff… Please?"

The loud teen couldn't see what her facial expression was, but he knew he shouldn't. Just by the sound of her voice; her childish, cute voice, he was losing his will.

Another gruff sigh resounded as Squalo repeated once more, "N-"

Only to be interrupted again.

"Squal-niichan, did you know? I really can't move. I must be because all the others—excluding you of course; you'd never want to torture a little girl right?—hit me so much, and so hard, I have bruises everywhere? My arms hurt a lot… So please?"

To further her persuasion, she attempted to lift her arm despite the pain (after all, sacrifices were needed to persuade someone), only to flinch and squeak in pain as large tears covered her eyelashes.

Accompanied with her set of large eyes, Xanxus, who had been close-eyed leaning on the other side of the tub, creaked open his narrow eyes and glared at the other; a silent warning (threat) in case the teen decided he wouldn't aid the child. Well, that was what Squalo thought it was… It couldn't be anything else right?

So like anyone else, the silver-headed teen decided to submit to the child's wishes.

Releasing a low moan, Squalo complied and began to wade through the large bathtub. Once reaching the two, he gently (as the rough man possibly could) pried the girl off his boss's chest. There were a few twitches and grinding of teeth here and there, but miraculously, Tsuna remained unscathed and no tears (willingly or not) escaped her eyes.

By the end of the arduous procedure, Tsuna was happily resting in the water. Well, she was really just leaning on Squalo, who was leaning on the side of the tub, across from Xanxus. She couldn't hurt her back on the hard, marble bathtub now could she? While Squalo's firm chest was not nearly as comfy as her fluffy pillow, it would have to do.

Squalo distinctly felt his boss's glare on him, and that unsettled him, though it shouldn't. After all, didn't he always glare? The teen nodded to himself, as if confirming his conclusion.

And after a few minutes of turmoil, everyone was happy.

…

"Squal-niichan, wash me please?"

"N-NANI, BRAT?"

The quick and clean disposal of silence was inevitable.

"I can't move my body. That's why you're going to do it for me!" the little girl chirped.

The teen let out a huge outburst as he got up (after putting Tsuna off him, onto Xanxus. A sitting Tsuna just wasn't tall enough to sit in the bathtub without drowning). "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU BR-"

Before the he could finish his sentence, a bar of soap went flying and hit his head with a 'thunk' as Squalo went crashing into the water.

Tsuna peered from the corner of her eyes Xanxus, who had not moved at all. His head leant against the tub and his eyes closed. The only evidence that gave out his act was his incredibly tense and tight frown that marred his face.

"FUCK THAT HURT!"

Squalo resurfaced from underwater, coughing and exhaling all the liquid he had accidently swallowed. It seemed he was doing that a lot, wasn't he?

"Squal-niichan, I suggest you shut up. Xan-niichan doesn't seem to happy right now, and you wouldn't want to incur his wrath would you? Even if it is especially funny and satisfying to see you hurt, it's disturbing my bath time" Tsuna deadpanned.

She was leaning comfortably on Xanxus with a smug look on her face. The teen she was leaning also had a small twitch of his lips, indicating his amusement (Squalo had been trained to identify his boss's mood).

His tolerance and patience had long been breached; the two had been shattered in mere minutes. The two 'siblings' gloated as he gained the 'short end of the stick', and Squalo growled.

"Ne, Squal-niichan, you shouldn't be so angry! It's not good for your heart you know. I wouldn't _want_ you with a heart attack." Tsuna noted. She gave a small giggle and a tilt of her head in response to her own statement.

'_Payback' _the child snickered joyfully.

And despite his fury, despite how vindictive the little girl sounded, Squalo gained a minuscule blush on his pale skin, and he forcefully turned his head from the cute display. It wasn't good for his heart.

"Tch, Brat."

With a polite smile, Tsuna easily dissuaded herself from the childish teen in front of her, which irked her silver-haired brother somewhat. But there was really nothing he could do about it.

Within minutes, a calm peace settled over the room for there was not a single outburst, scream, enraged yell, or crash in the mansion (most which have been caused by Xanxus). And this time, unlike all the others, the silence weaved into the inhabitants' bodies as their muscles finally began to loosen, letting the warmth of the water embrace them like a mother's firm hug.

It was only till Tsuna's eyes grew heavy as lead, her arms gently unraveling downwards, her head leaning to her side with Xaxnus, did she realize her exhaustion.

Apparently (or to their shock), so did her usually grim-looking brother. Xanxus let his sharp eyes stray to the younger girl before closing tiredly.

With a soft snarl he commanded, "Oi, Trash, get out."

After Squalo's indignant huff and departure (after picking up his sopping wet clothes and uniform), Xanxus's eyes snapped open. He stood up, bent his head with a satisfying (and a bit disturbing) _crack_, and picked the tiny girl up in his arms.

His actions were not the most gentle, yet they were not the roughest he had made. Tsuna was now asleep in his arms, perhaps even unconsciously snuggling closer to the beating warmth that was his chest.

Fighting the smirk that was creeping onto his face was no easy task; he gave up midway and felt his lips twitching with vengeance. He walked quickly out the door, dressing her in one of his white shirts (which was much too big, but he would have to make do) and strode to his large bed.

With a groan, he propped himself onto the comfy bed and left his 'sister' beside him, letting out one last yawn before succumbing to sleep.

…

He wouldn't notice until morning came; a welcoming warmth that wrapped close to his chest, cuddling into his soft embrace. A heat so addictive, his body couldn't help but encompass it in its own chest.

* * *

><p>AN: I am extremely sorry for the late update. It is entirely my fault. I spend a week working, another lazing around, and the rest of the two weeks working/editing. SORRY. But at least most chapters now are over 2,000 words right? I'm probably not going to be updating biweekly, considering I have school coming up, but I will update to the best of my ability.

Just saying, this chapter is a sort of reply, or 'hidden scene' from her time back when she was in Italy for a week with the Varia. Specifically at age 5. I incorporated some Xanxus/Tsuna and a bit of Squalo too.

The next chapter is with Haru.

_For the poll results:_

Nothing much had changed, but **Reborn is now #1**. He's beat Xanxus by a tiny margin.

Chrome has beaten Kyoko by a few rankings!

_Thank you for reading, and please, review and criticize (nicely), for me to improve as a writer, and to give you better updates!_


	14. Chapter 13 One Knight, Rescued

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

* * *

><p>Chapter 13: One Knight, Rescued<p>

Reborn had been distant; quieter, and more sadistic over the summer vacation. She was ignorant (and she hated being ignorant) to the reason and while curious, she wasn't going to ask and incur his wrath.

The days dragged on with the last month of summer vacation dragging by dutifully. There was nothing of peculiar interest she could do, and that left her training (she had not been working on her guns for such a long time—due to a certain hitman—and her skills were getting a tiny bit rusty. She was going to practice her aim in the basement; screw Reborn's watch.), reading the random books sprawled around the living room, rereading the books on her bookshelf, and sleep around the house.

Her sleeping had reached a new level: Now her napping locations included her room, the basement and the attic, which was a huge increase from her previous nights sleeping at her room.

With Lambo going out so much and Reborn lounging around with Bianchi, she kept her privacy: something that never lasted more than hlaf an hour. Unfortunately Reborn realized this far too easily, and she was constantly swarmped with random orders of 'training' and 'target practice', most right in the mist of her sleep time.

The only exciting thing in her live now was that the heat was finally leaving; slowly, oh so slowly. It got her heart thumping, that soon, the weather would bring in the cool winds that signaled the start of autumn.

That's how exiting her life was.

...

The morning was peaceful, as always. The daily hygiene routines were normal. Reborn was as silent as usual. Gokudera had to restock his dynamite last night, and wouldn't be around to bother her. Yamamoto—well maybe he was still finishing up his summer school work (To think that he needed to take summer school…).

And to be honest, Tsuna was starting to get bored. Everything was mundane; her life felt like it was meshing up, swirling together into one ugly color; days passing without her even knowing it.

While she couldn't believe she would actually give into the temptation, she needed something worthwhile thrown into her life or her heart would stop beating. (It was probably the fault of Reborn and the mafias that followed. They plagued her with their actions, keeping her on her toes.) She would even accept it being life-threatening. (Bianchi was excluded—there was only so much she could take of her love filled ideals.)

She used to want the sense of quietness in her life; the relaxation of solitary noise and lack of idiotic hindrances, but now it was just a bit less than stifling. She had grown used to _him_ and his craziness.

That was what Tsuna thought, strolling around that day. Nana had forced to her walk around the neighborhood in the morning, to prevent her from growing fat, which was by far the most foolish decision she had ever made since marrying Iemistu. With Reborn in her life, she would never stay less than Spartan.

Reborn was by her side as always, walking along the fence of a house.

It was then did she notice a female student started walking along the fence, right behind Reborn. The girl's balance wasn't the best, and Tsuna wondered if the student knew it would have been easy to see her panties while she stood above her. She decided it would be best not to mention it as she watched the scene.

The girl stood shakily and gave a small wave at the infant.

"H-Hello!" she exclaimed shyly.

Huh. Though the girl didn't seem to be part of the mafia, she was just as strange. She was blushing like a love-struck fool, at a baby. A baby! Tsuna winced. Pedophilia wasn't really on her 'like' list, though it didn't exactly apply to Reborn. He had a mind of a devious twenty-year old, and the body of a five.

"Ciaossu" was his cool reply.

Reborn was always putting the suave facade around women. Either to attract idol-istic gushing, or in this case, an innocent school girl's 'first love'. (She had read about his life before: his sly good looks were a sin that had intoxicated multiple women.)

Well, Reborn's simple hello certainly didn't deter the girl, as she introduced herself.

"M-My name is… Miura Haru."

Tsuna noticed the sweat that fell down the girl's forehead. Just how hard was it to introduce herself?

"I know you. You're from this house right?" Reborn pointed to the house he was standing next to.

"…"

Tsuna didn't say anything so no one noticed her, but she had just realized something. Was this girl, perhaps, the one she had kept on feeling before? The one that stared out the window every day outside in the morning? The one who's face was covered with toothpaste and water, almost to an unrecognizable degree? The once that had a glazed look, not even moving, with drool coming from her mouth?

She had assumed the girl had fallen asleep each morning while brushing her teeth. She didn't think this Miura was the same girl.

Before Tsuna had the time to finish her thought, she was startled by a loud proclamation.

"Can I be your friend?" the girl shouted loudly, eyes wide in excitement.

"Sure"

Miura would be happy Tsuna knew. She just didn't imagine the girl sigh in pleasure and fall off the fence.

Maybe this girl's stupidity grew each time she introduced herself to a child in this fashion and fall on her head? Perhaps.

…

It seemed this girl was full of surprises. One moment she was falling, the next, she was flipping over and landing on her feet. And there wasn't even a meter's distance from the ground.

Nothing that was related to Reborn had a slither of normalcy in this realm. Right now, Tsuna was thankful for that.

But then she defied all logic and Muria was suddenly giving out a creepy aura. The girl was breathing heavily, and asked Reborn in a nervous whisper, "U-Urm, It's rather sudden… But… Can you hug me… like this?" She wrapped her arms around herself tightly.

Tsuna's eyes closed in disbelief. Just what was wrong with this girl? The next thing she knew, Reborn would probably comply to the strange girl's desires with an arrogant smirk on his face. Or maybe he would ignore her politely, like he does with Bianchi. Who knew?

Instead (and to her confusion), he gave a scowl (well, that's what she saw) and said, "Don't touch me so easily."

Then his scowl morphed to his normal smirk, continuing.

"Cause I'm a hitman."

"…"

"…"

Both girls were silent, though for different reasons. Tsuna didn't understand the sudden mood change, but just assumed that was part of his current strangeness.

Miura Haru was silent for an entirely different reason. Red hot blood pulsed through her veins and burst in her body as the girl's body moved by itself, unconscious and free willed.

A loud smack resounded through the area, and Tsuna stared wide-eyed at the girl.

'_Did she just slap me?'_

Disbelief shook her body. Had she just been slapped by the girl? The ordinary, regular high school female? Her eyebrows scrunched together in frustration. She should've been able to dodge that hit.

Her hands went to clutch the red cheeks. Still in her shock, Muira glared at her, radiating hate.

"You… What are you teaching him!"

She went waving her hands around whilst proclaiming, "Babies are angels with pure white hearts!"

"ARE YOU DESTROYING THAT LOVELY PURENESS WITH YOUR ROTTEN HEART?"

Now the girl was raving around, grabbing Tsuna's shirt in a threatening manner. Astonishment turned to disbelief and disgust. Just what was wrong with this girl? Her ideas were selfish and naïve, as if the girl had the mind of a child. And since when did Reborn become classified as a baby?

Tsuna calmed herself. Just pretend she was dealing with a child. Calm down…

"I think this is a misunderstanding…" she spoke in a pacifying manner.

"WHAT MISUNDERSTANDING?"

Her ears rang in cadence with the girl's shriek. She winced.

"I-"

"YOU'RE REBORN'S SISTER RIGHT? I SEE YOU TWO TOGETHER EACH DAY!"

'_You look at him every day? What are you, a stalker?' _Tsuna thought.

"I'm not his sister. I'm-"

"Then you're a worse… Making someone else's baby…" Miura started mumbling curses under her breath, and a darker aura surrounded her.

Tsuna took this opportunity, and started walking away. She wouldn't want to stay with this girl longer than she had to. She was even worse than Bianchi. But a great bellow filled the area as Miura stopped mumbling.

"Listen! I want you to stay away from Reborn, got that!" The girl had sent a beastly glare straight to Tsuna. She began to remind Tsuna of the bitchy girl fighting over the guy in one of those romance novels Nana had around the house. Tsuna's lips twitched.

"That won't be possible." Reborn spoke all of a sudden.

"…Huh?"

Muira's glare turned into that of confusion as she turned to Reborn. He continued.

"It's my job to raise Tsuna, the 10th boss of the mafia. I cannot be separated from her till then."

As soon as he started speaking, Tsuna knew without any doubt that it would make a certain brunette angry. She put her hands in front of her face, and sure enough, after he finished talking, a fist went slamming into her hand.

The girl, Miura, ignored that fact and growled at her.

"MAFIA? You're going too far, to even restrict his freedom, making him say such things!" Her glare turned into fiery passion and she swore, "I'll protect Reborn-chan!"

Tsuna smirked, if only for just a second, before schooling her look into a neutral line. Never, it all her life, would she have thought she would hear someone address _the_ Reborn with a 'chan'. It just seemed so impossible. Would that excite Reborn's sadistic anger, or would he ignore it with cool distaste? She would love to find out.

"Listen, do you think Reborn woul-"

Again. Her sentence was silenced by the enormous glare of hatred coming from the girl. Her body excreted hellish flames as she approached Tsuna, close enough that their eyes were mere centimeters apart. Then as soon as they closed in, Miura turned around, waved a goodbye to Reborn with a smile, and walked away.

The girl was so strange, just like all other girls that knew (and wanted) Reborn.

A sniff woke her senses, clearing her mind of any disturbances. Reborn, who had been standing on the wall fence cleared his throat and smirked with his innocent eyes. His hand was across his lap, his legs crossed, in a haughty manner.

"You girls get along really well. Almost like a married couple."

Tsuna decided to honor that with her usual retort.

"I'm not even old enough to marry."

"Old enough to be in the mafia, old enough to marry." And as usual, Reborn threw back the casual rebuttal.

…

This was just about the strangest sight she had ever seen, not counting a chameleon that could morph into a gun, a hilarious hairdo worn by the committee members, or a soppy, crying, laughing, insulting, baby with weapons. But it was close.

The girl from before had come back again. For what, Tsuna was willing herself to not know, even if it was painfully obvious.

Metal armor gleamed under the golden sun, its meticulous designs in shining gold. A worn, black hockey stick was gripped by a sweaty hand. Under the other arm held a football helmet. The strangest combination of defense and offense Tsuna had ever seen.

The girl was ready for battle.

Though it really wouldn't be considered 'ready' when there were dark bags under her eyes; her skin was clammy from exhaustion and wet from sweat, and her hair in a bird's nest. Even the greeting was slurred into an almost unrecognizable noise. However, it had relayed its message: Miura Haru needed sleep and something thinner to wear in the ending summer heat.

Yet the girl's willpower was left intact and reinforced with determination. Miura stood as straight as possible and declared, "If Reborn really is a hitman, then as the mafia boss, you must be really strong. If you're really as strong, then I won't complain. I'll accept his lifestyle…. So"

She slammed the helmet on her head and clenched the stick with both hands.

"PLEASE HAVE A MATCH WITH ME!"

A roar broke the ground as Miura lunged at Tsuna with her weapon. Tsuna dodged at the last minute to hear the resounding whack of the stick hitting gravel.

But the girl didn't stop there: lunge and lunge, dodge and dodge, thwack and thwack were repeated with vengeance for minutes. Despite Miura's exhaustion, her body strained itself to continue.

Beating someone to half-death did seem interesting now, but there was no way Tsuna was going to waste her time with this girl. Miura neither infuriated her, nor did she annoy her to the point of exhaustion. It was pitiful really, watching the girl desperately waving around the stick. Of course, there was no way she was going to let herself get struck by the thing, so Tsuna continued dodging. It was only until a surprised yell rang out did Tsuna sigh in relief.

He was here, and while she wasn't exactly pleased with his presence, he would useful. Probably.

"Juudaime! Please stand back."

Gokudera rushed in and jumped in front of her in a protective stance.

"DIE!"

Gokudera flung his dynamite at the confused (just who was this guy who appeared from nowhere?) girl. It took Miura at a surprise and she cried out whilst being blasted away. A loud splash of impact against water crashed as she flew into the nearby river.

Tsuna frowned, ignoring the satisfied look Gokudera held as he nodded to himself. It took a bated few seconds before a mop of chestnut hair burst up onto the surface, before sinking down once more.

Reason and the emotions that plagued Miura before were thrown away, replaced by a frenzy of desperate gasps of air and fear. Eyes were shut tight as saltwater went up her nose. She cried out.

"S-SAVE- COUGH- SAVE ME!"

Again, her head went back into the water.

Gokudera did nothing. He stood there, barely paying attention to the girl. Reborn stood atop the railings with an even colder look on his face. His face was carved into that seemingly ever-present smirk. He did nothing.

"Reborn, do something."

Silence.

"DO SOMETHING."

Tsuna's voice began to grow in volume, but Reborn did nothing. She was not going to let a random girl she had barely known drown to death. But there was also no way she was going to get wet and drag a lug of metal out of the water.

"REBORN!"

His only response was a condescending sniff. A gun was flicked out, and he asked, "Do you want a Dying Will Bullet now?"

Her eyes narrowed. The girl was beginning to go down in smaller intervals. Gokudera wasn't doing anything. A mesh of images flashed by before she sighed...

And jumped.

…

The water was incredibly uncomfortable. Her clothes weighed her down, and she had to navigate around in dirty liquid: she shouldn't have jumped. But there was no changing the past, so she swam quickly around the murky water before locating the struggling girl.

She found the drowning girl quickly, but it was not enough.

Miura's arms were losing strength, her lungs filling quickly with water. Again, she went down.

Her eyes opened, just for a second, and stretched wide, finding Tsuna, before she let go of the rest of her air and began to sink, her eyes now shut.

There wasn't any time.

Tsuna shoved her way through the water to Miura, and tried pushing her already sinking body up. As she thought: it didn't work. The samurai suit was too heavy for her to drag up along with a girl and while swimming. She was beginning to lose air.

Hurriedly, she let herself fall into the deep waters with the girl while pulling the armor off. Strap by strap, piece by piece the thing went off and the weight began to lessen. But that wasn't fast enough.

She needed air. Desperately.

She squinted her eyes away from the dirt that inhabited the waters and forced her arms and legs to push quicker, stronger, on the dense water, ignoring the rest of the armor that was strapped on Miura's legs. She pushed with all of the remaining energy she could gather, and the two girls began moving. They moved slowly, but at least they were making progress. The would hopefully reach the surface before she ran out of oxygen.

Then a murky figure flooded into her periphery from above: Gokudera.

He had the funniest (at least to her) face on, and as soon as he spotted her, he swam. Really, he was her only chance in living, so she too, dragged herself and the girl to him.

Once they met, he grabbed her tightly on the wrist and pulled her to him before moving up.

As she was pulled up, she had to admit; he had more strength than she thought he would've had.

…

It took a precious few seconds of slowly letting out the rest of her air in the form of small bubbles trying to prolong her supply, did they finally break the surface.

It was only then could she open her mouth to take in the huge gulps of the oxygen she craved. Air was inhaled and immediately thrust out for another gulp. The process was repeated for a while; until Tsuna could compose herself enough to breathe normally.

Then her attention was placed upon the girl who still, did not breathe. There was no pulse. She sighed. Gokudera was right next to her, and she supposed, his childhood in the mafia world had hardened his heart, or rather, his conscious.

She bent down, over the girl and took in a deep breath. She gave a series of chest compressions, tilting the girl's head and letting the air go through. Doing a few more compressions, she pinched Miura's nose and placed her mouth atop the others, breathing slowly in.

The girl's chest slightly rose as she violently choked out water.

Tsuna was reassured. Again, she gave a few rounds of chest compressions and breathed, exhaling into the girl's mouth. She repeated the procedure for a while until the signs of life came up.

Miura coughed spits of water out each times, until finally she began to breath, even if erratically. It was only at the end did she throw up the rest of the water lodged in her windpipe and blearily open her eyes.

Her pulse had returned.

"H-Huh?"

The girl had no idea what was going on, other than she saw 'kabom' coming at her, and she fell into the water. And… (If she didn't imagine it) Was it the girl she had challenged—Tsuna—that had saved her?

Tsuna observed the fully awakening girl with blank chocolate eyes and sighed. Gokudera was giving a glare of hatred aimed at Miura. She could infer why.

"How DARE you sully Juudaime's innocence with your dirty lips!" he hissed aloud.

The girl was shocked. Miura turned to her with wide eyes and a new emotion surfaced.

"Y-You saved me, even though I was your rival?" she whispered.

It looked as if she was going to ignore the CPR part, which is perfect for Tsuna; she didn't want to revisit the event.

Miura's head bent down and her hands covered her cheeks. If one looked closely enough, they would see her face a burning cherry.

"mmpghmsum…" Her words were incoherent; they were muffled by her hands and the blanket (that was thrown to her) she held. Tsuna could understand nothing.

"What the hell are you saying?" growled Gokudera. He was going to blow if she didn't start saying something that made sense.

Silent seconds slipped by before she lifted her head. Her eyes shone with admiration, and…

"It was… very wonderful that you jumped in, in place of Reborn-chan, Juu-sama… is what I said." Her tone held a soft buttery feeling that let pink hearts flutter around Tsuna.

She winced. Just what was that stupid nickname she called her by? And why 'sama'? And was that _love_ the girl was illuminating?

"But even more so, Juu-sama, you were the one who took my first kiss…" Her eyes closed in bliss and embarrassment, while Tsuna stared in horror. Gokudera was glaring in both horror and disgust.

Were they truly hearing what they heard her say?

"By heart is pounding! I can truly say, Haru has fallen in love with Juu-sama." Now she had reverted back into her high-school-girl-in-love mode.

Tsuna tried to give reason. "Listen Miura-san—"

"Haru."

"…?"

"Call me Haru, Juu-sama!" Haru called out.

"…Okay, Haru, If I remember correctly, weren't you in love with _Reborn_?" Tsuna pointed to the infant who had not moved at all during the past few minutes. Reborn gave nothing but a stare.

Haru hugged herself tightly and replied, "But I feel like being hugged by you again, Juu-sama! I can still remember your warn embrace as you saved me."

Gokudera bristled in anger as he barked out, "YOU WERE UNCONCIOUS!"

Haru made a face at him and retorted, "Even if Haru wasn't awake, she would recognize a hug and kiss from her true love."

This was going to drag for a long time Tsuna sensed, and she was going to put a stop to it.

"Haru, aren't you tired? You've had a very exhausting experience right?" Tsuna slipped on a semi-smile.

As soon as she said that, Haru's body sagged, realizing its exhaustion. "Now that you mention it…"

"Why don't you go home? Gokudera will walk you there, won't he?" She purposefully dragged him in; she needed her rest after all. Both the girl and the guy (two peas in a pod) were an impediment, and she was forced to make sure they stayed away.

Two cries of disbelief echoed out in harmony as the two grew upset.

"Why—"

Both spoke at the same time, and both cut themselves off in anger.

'_Just who does she think she is?'_

'_Just who does he think he is?'_

Two peas in a pod.

Tsuna gave a wide yawn and stretched her arms up, letting them swing down. The sun's warm evening glow had warmed her wet body considerably, leaving her with a lazy yet uncomfortable feeling. She wanted to go home, take a short shower and get to bed.

"Well, I'll be leaving. Reborn will be following, so don't worry."

"Juudaime!"

"Juu-sama"

Ignoring their continuous whines she left them by themselves, hoping they would make themselves useful. On the way home, she had a short, albeit meaningful conversation with Reborn.

…

"How did you like your first kiss?"

Reborn's question (that wasn't phrased in a question) rang clearly in her ear. He looked ahead with a bitter smirk on his face.

Tsuna gave an irritated sigh. Similarly to Reborn, she looked on ahead without facing Reborn. But her face was contorted to a small tried grin.

The sun was still shining brightly as hues of orange, purple and pink painted the sky a melt of monochrome. Her skin absorbed the dancing flickers of gold and her mop of brown clung to her rosy cheeks.

Today had been a strong wind that blew across her face. It definitely had not been boring: that was without doubt.

Tsuna let her lips curve softly as she replied,

"Great. Just great."

* * *

><p>AN: I realise the chapter was extremely late, and they'll proably this late each time from now on... I hope you'll still sty with me...

I do you you've enjoyed the chapter though. I'm doing NaNoWriMo (and I haven't even started it... My laptop's in the hardware store...sniff..) this month so I won't have ny time, which is why I made sure to post this up first.

**Poll:** Just giving a general layout.

1. Xanxus, leading Topped Reborn! I can't believe this!

2. Reborn, duh.

3. Mukuro

4. Byakuran

5. Alaude Giotto

I'm only listing the top five this time, but don't worry; all characters will have their special screen time.

***The poll is ongoing until I say so***

* * *

><p><em><strong>Reviewers:<strong>_

**Shugopop**: Yes, Reborn will get his adult body back, sometime... It's coming.

**Torka**: I know. But Squalo's part off the Varia, and his signature thing's a shark right? He should love water!

**Sachiel Angelo**: Yep, Squalo and Xanxus are around that age. And there is actually going to be more scenes like this, since I really want to portray Tsuna's relationship with them...

**kaito kitsune**: Of course you can! This is leaning towards X27, but the rael drama will come when the Varia arrive, so you'll be waiting.

**Insanity-Red**: You've got it. I would show Tsuna's skill as well, but (hint) you need to know that Tsuna didn't spend the whole time with the Varia. Her training didn't reach the level that it could have. I can't wait for Mukuro as well. '

**Lilac:** Of course, but are you sure Reborn'll make pudding out of Tsuna? Won't it be the other way around?


	15. Chapter 14 A Nightmares Dream

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

* * *

><p>Chapter 14: A Nightmare's Dream<p>

Tsuna stared at the noodles in front of her with a dissatisfied sigh. The noodles, which were supposed to be thin strong strands, puffed; soaked with water. The dish was made cold so most of the flavor remained, but this really wasn't satisfactory.

Tsuna wasn't picky with her food; she ate whatever Nana cooked and put on the plate, whether it be pasta, miso, omelet or plain rice. However, there was a fine line between okay, and plain bad. The family (and its permanent guests) had been eating the same thing (not to mention some of the noodles were leftovers from mid-year gifts) for a week straight and it was beginning to bother her.

"Mom, is there any reason why we've been eating this every day?" she droned, staring at her bowl with blank eyes.

Nana's face grew anxious and disappointed. She covered her sadness with a small pout and replied, "Don't complain! It's good for us, financially…"

Anger simmered in the back of Tsuna's mind. _'Financially? We shouldn't be in such a bad situation if he left his wife for his work. Where's his income going to?'_

"I like the noodles that Maman makes." Reborn piped up casually.

"I like it too." Bianchi parroted.

Tsuna made sure to keep her eyes away from the woman sitting beside Reborn. Bianchi was happily slurping away her food. There were the couple of intense stares aimed at her in random intervals, but she made sure to act as if they didn't exist. But they flashed a warning in her mind: Danger. Beware of the love-struck mafia woman.

'_At least she isn't trying to kill me.'_

Bianchi and Reborn's comments cheered the mother up considerably and shifted the worry lines into a peppy smile.

"There's one more person who likes soumen!" Nana exclaimed, as if to comfort herself.

Bangs and stomps were heard outside the kitchen door.

"GAHAHAHA!"

The door was burst open, and there stood Lambo in his openly foolish self. What was interesting today was that his horns were stuck the wrong way in his afro. (But his outfit was always strange; it garnered unneeded attention at all times.)

"It's me, LAMBO!"

The horns weren't really a big deal and she didn't wish to see him freak out embarrassed, like he did every day, so she left him be. Her eyes retreated back to the noodles.

Her effort was put to waste, as Nana had told the infant for her. "Lambo-chan, you're horns aren't sticking properly." She informed kindly.

Lambo squeaked in shock and shame. He felt his horns, before pulling and sticking them back properly on the sides of his head, sniffing.

"I-I knew that! It was intentional… but I'll fix it anyway" he stammered.

At times, he could be such a joy to watch: he was a cute, unknowing, naïve baby. The only problem was his high maintenance and violence level, as well as the various dangerous weapons he kept in his nest of a hair… One he was rummaging out from his afro.

Reborn must have looked at him in a condescending manner, for Lambo to take out his bazookas.

"I-IT REALLY WAS INTENTIONAL! DIE REBORN!"

Reborn, the way he was, had to nonchalantly stop the bazooka (that had come from a distance of two meters) with his chopsticks and fling it back to the child. The bazooka flew straight at Lambo's gut, and the infant went flying away with it. He was pushed out of the window into who knew where; he always came back, somehow.

Nana watched the infant outside the window silently. The scene had happened right in front of, her, but some portion of her mind had reassured herself that the baby was safe. She might've seen another moment like this before, and felt it normal. She wasn't worried. He always came back. Somehow.

It was these small moments where Tsuna couldn't comprehend her mother. She wasn't dumb, so she knew not where the ignorance came from.

But she didn't bother to find out; content with the fact that Nana was Nana, and she wasn't going to change (for the worse).

…

While Reborn, Tsuna, and Bianchi had continued to eat, Lambo was still flying airborne. It was only till a building tall enough to block him had appeared did he stop. Or rather, did he crash into someone's apartment complex with a loud boom.

Curious as to the origin of the sound a boy—possibly in high school—slid open the door to the room. He stood frozen.

"What was that sound?" His mother came from another balcony holding the laundry.

"Why are you just standing there, Shoichi?" The sister peeked out from the room next door.

Inside the room was a child; an infant, sprawled unconscious on the floor. Behind the boy was a wreck of debris and two broken walls that led outside, letting in the arid breezes from outside. Comments leaked out through the net of astonishment.

"It's a child!"

"Is he… okay?"

"I can't believe it. What's going on?"

**DING DONG DING DONG**

The outlet of words was blocked by the ringing of the bell. The teen's mother ordered him to take the door.

Outside the door was a muscular man who held a crate. His genes were most likely not from Japan: that accounted for his strange accent, and Shoichi Irie was hesitant and doubtful of the man's honesty. He might've been some sort of terrorist for all he knew!

But regardless, the crate was shoved into his arms as the man fled and slid down a large pole. Like a firefighter, but he wasn't going to comment. Shoichi closed the door before calling out, "Some kind of contraband arrived…"

He went up to them and nervously opened the crate. Inside was a sheet reading:

'Bonivo's Summer

Assortments For Apology.

Pasta x2

Olive Oil x3

Wine x1

We're very sorry that our Lambo

has caused a great amount of trouble this time.

This is a little something in our behalf.

In addition, please give the

Cow printed bag to Lambo.'

Lambo was most likely the small boy lying on the floor. The family was speechless, and silence simmered in the air before surprise erupted.

"Oh my! A wad of bills is in it!"

The mother held out a stack of bills that was underneath the cow print, along with the rest of the goods that was mentioned.

"This kid's family's insane!"

It was a shock to the whole family. Just who was this boy? And were they truly going to use the fishy money to fix their broken wall?

Shoichi knew deep in his heart, that this was really not safe, and probably something illegal. But curiosity got the better of him, and he held up the cow print bag for closer inspection.

A grenade slipped out the bag and clinked on the floor.

"Th-This is…" He hesitantly held up the object, before it was snatched away by his sister.

"What's this? A toy?" she dismissed and threw it back at him.

He was sure his heart was trembling as he carefully caught it and placed it back into the bag.

"Sorry Sho-chan, can you return this box too when you send the boy back?" his mother asked him. Or really, ordered him.

"M-Me?"

"Obviously! Men should do the job. Women are weak!"

His sister was always lazy like that, but there was no way on earth she was weaker than him…

"But I don't know the address!" He tried to create himself a sliver of hope in the situation.

Oh no problem! It was in the boy's pocket." The mother held up the address paper. He had no idea she even went near the boy!

He was given the crumbled piece of paper, barely deciphering the messy writing. By no means was it handwritten; it looked typed. The only problem was that it was crumbled, and a few letters had been blurred, along with the strangely sticky, green colored sections.

But besides that, the letter looked daunting and intimidating. Just what exactly did 'order' and 'target' mean?

"…Well, If something happens, we'll come get you." His sister gave him a hard smack on the back for comfort.

"I'll lend you my phone, so contact us."

Shoichi gave up trying and nodded his head submissively. _'It's always me at times like this…'_

…

Finding the house had been easy enough. Now all he had to do was go and return the kid and the box to the people inside (who would hopefully know what to do), and leave.

Shoichi stared at the Sawada name plate nervously before peering inside.

He immediately hid back behind the wall, his heart thumping with fear and shock. He didn't know what to do. So without hesitation he dialed the home phone using the cell his mother had given him.

"Hello, Mom? There's a lady in a bathing suit sleeping in the yard!" He loudly whispered, wanting to conceal his presence from the strange person inside.

His mother answered with a laugh. "Oh Sho-chan, that's just sun bathing. Unlike us, rich people do stuff like that. The Sawadas are celebrities aren't they? Is the mansion nice?"

"E-" Before he could say anything, the call ending with a loud beeping. He sighed.

"Is there something you want?"

Shoichi quickly jumped at the charming sound before turning. Behind him was the woman, still wearing her black bikini.

A large blush rose up on his cheeks as he tried to give a response. Merely a strangled choke left his lips.

He just wasn't used to these things.

"Peeking into people's houses…" The woman did not look angry, or even ashamed (not that someone who wore swimsuits without going to swim would). Her voluptuous yet muscular build were shown to the public, and her eyes oozed sex.

It was too much for young, inexperienced Shoichi, and he closed his eyes before responding, "R-Reborn…?" What he really meant to say was something along the lines of, "Is this where Sawada Reborn lives?" but somehow his anxiety had caused him to put forth only a single word.

Regardless, the woman had known the person, 'Reborn', though there might've been a misunderstanding, since he was greeted with a murderous glare after opening his eyes. Sweltering eyes had chilled to ice as she continued to glare him down. And this time, he didn't have the confidence to close his eyes in fear.

"What's wrong Bianchi?" A voice called out.

The lady turned away with a love-struck look in her face, and Shoichi sighed in relief. He was saved.

"Reborn!"

From inside the walls came a… child? The boy had a black fedora with an orange stripe. His face was chubby with glittering eyes of innocence stapled on. The boy wore a Hawaiian shirt, and held a can of…beer? The child was full of contradictions, but that wasn't important.

'_Is this truly 'Reborn'? _

When Shoichi had imagined him, he was thinking of a man more, manly, or tall, or old, or dangerous looking. The only thing that matched the description was the fedora. And even that was splashed with a stripe of colorful orange.

"Ciaossu" the child spoke, talking a gulp of his beer.

Well, it didn't matter too much. His job hadn't changed: he needed to give back the child. Maybe the cow-kid was a friend?

He pointed to the child on his back. "Um, Is thi-"

Before he could speak however, a loud squeak boomed in his ear as the kid woke up.

"Gahahah! DIE REBORN!"

The horns were plucked out of his afro and the child hurled them at the other child. It went soaring, and the sharp point headed straight at Reborn's face. But what even more surprising was that the other child had somehow gained a bat, and swung it at the horn. It hit the child on his back, the sharp point digging into the kid's forehead. He fell down unconscious.

"!E-Excuse me!"

Shoichi left the baby and swiftly ran away. His trembling fingers jammed the buttons on his phone with rush and he cried out.

"Reborn-san is still a baby!"

His mother on the line was definitely confused.

"Eh? A baby?"

"But he was drinking beer! And he's so strong at fighting!"

"Ah! So it's not a baby, but a mommy with guts!"

"NO!"

"So she doesn't have guts… Is Lambo-kun awake yet? Is he alright?"

Ah! He had forgotten all about Lambo…

"LAMBO IS A BOY OF TOLERANCE~"

A large cry erupted from above, and Shoichi looked up to see the baby he had just left… How he had gone up a tree without falling, he didn't know. But Shoichi was extremely freaked out.

"I'LL JUST BOMB YOU! BOOM BOOM BOOM YOU!" The boy was weeping heavily with closed eyes, and held up a bunch of grenades…

Grenades? If memory served him right, wouldn't the grenades in the bag he had brought with him? He took out the cow print bag, only to find it empty…

Shoichi feared for his life, and slowly stepped back—one foot at a time—away from the crazy, weapon wielding child. As he did so, the infant cried out, "STUPID" before throwing the grenades into the air, most likely at Reborn though he couldn't see.

Just as he did so, the grenades flew right back at the glossy eyed, unsuspecting Lambo.

**BOOOOOM**

Shoichi was about to cry.

"What in the world is Lambo doing!"

A female's voice rang out underneath the chaos, and Shoichi cowered, hoping it wasn't that same scary woman from before. He wanted to run way. But he had a job to do, and get the hell out of this crazy place. So with bated steps, he snuck back and peered in the front yard of the Sawada house. Back to the beginning.

What he saw was a normal looking girl, her face shaped into a frown, her chestnut hair wild and free flowing down. But that wasn't important. What was important was that she looked _normal_. Hope erupted so quickly it warmed him with comfort.

Then his heart was shattered when she opened her mouth.

"Bianchi, I would appreciate you wear a bikini somewhere I— or anyone else for that manner— cannot see you. It burns my eyes."

Did she not notice the burnt baby crying on the ground? _'She wasn't normal after_ _all'_ he lamented.

However, there was nothing he could do. She was the most normal looking and acting of the lot. She would do. He started running at her, his feet carrying him slowly (he was never a good runner) across the grass lawn. One step, two steps, three steps…

Alas, he could not finish his journey; Lambo had popped up in front of him, and took out a bazooka. A bazooka! He shielded his arms in front of him and shit his eyes tightly, terrorized.

**POOF**

There was a 'poof' sound, and nothing else happened. Huh?

Warily, Shoichi peeked open his eyes, only to widen them to a huge degree. Was he really seeing what he was seeing? Gone was a child, and out forth came this nice-looking teen dressed in a yukata, holding a piece of yakinuku with chopsticks.

"Goodness. And I was just savoring the inn's cooking…"

The phone was brought out once more, his mother speed dialed, and he screamed, "BECAME AN ADULT-"

His mother was on the phone instantly laughing. "I'm proud of you Sho-chan. But that's not something you say about yourself."

"NO!" He slammed his phone shut, silently muttering about his mother whilst watching the scene that was being performed.

The teen (presumably Lambo?) walked up to the girl and spoke nicely.

"Oh, hello, Onee-sama." (Was she someone special?)

Olive green eyes widened then, as the teen stared ahead, at the scary woman, Bianchi, probably. Surprise shifted to dismay as he muttered, "I think I'll excuse myself today…"

Strangely enough, the girl stood and watched saying nothing. Shoichi thought that maybe she was used to such things; he was absolutely positive he would never be.

The next thing he knew, the scary woman cried out, "Romeo!" throwing bowls of purple colored food at him. Shoichi streaked, terror bubbling in a mixture with horror and trepidation in a cauldron that was his stomach.

Purple noodles landed on the dirt ground, before poisoning the earth a sickly color, and sinking into the depths of the ground. The scary woman was becomign a nightmare for him.

His heart sank into his sizzling cauldron as the teen ran at him, the crazy woman following with killing intent. If her poison were to land on him…

Would this be his last day on earth?

Shoichi dropped to the ground and he curled up tightly into a small ball, clenching his knees as if he was groping salvation. He was prepared for the worst possible situation—death—and flashes of his gruesome body flickered in his mind.

But they passed him still running.

His previous despair overrode the joy that shook him. He was alive, but that didn't account for much.

BANG BANG BANG

He flinched at the loud gunshots, apprehensive of what was happening. Slowly, quietly, he looked.

Just as he did so, another shot rang out, and he saw merely a flash. His cheek burned for a second, and he brought his hand shakily up to his face, only to feel the warm, red life stream flowing onto his hand; seeping down to his wrist and slithering, pulsing, dripping from his chin.

No tears could leave his eyes; his trauma was so great.

…

Tsuna watched with slightly narrowed eyes. She watched teenage Lambo pop up and Bianchi chasing him. She watched, as her front yard's fresh green grass sizzled down into the dirt, and her ground and wall riddled with holes. She watched as Nana's precious garden (even if the woman wasn't the best gardener) was destroyed in the havoc.

Most of all, Tsuna watched the young boy: An innocent glasses-wearing boy who was caught in the fray. He was probably the soppiest, laughable, embarrassing excuse of a male specimen; snot and tears trickled down his face along with splotches of blood.

The boy was in a state of complete hysteria.

He ducked his head, cradling the phone he held and was moaning about his mother, or something of the like. Then a new voice rand out from the phone, a young woman's, and Tsuna inferred it was his sister, or some relative. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she could see the boy's dismay as he dropped to the ground on all fours, his phone dropping to the ground.

The nerd was cowering, Lambo hiding, and Bianchi running around in a bikini. It was utter chaos, and Tsuna had the urge to return to her nice, quiet room.

Lambo and Bianchi would be taken care of as soon as he returned back to his 5 year old self. The problem was the boy. She didn't know what problems would arise with the boy. He needed to be driven away from here. He needed to leave.

And she didn't know what had possibly led him to her garden; especially that type of herbivorous boy that would definitely die early. She didn't know, but he would have to leave before he ended up in a pile of dead rotting flesh.

So Tsuna slouched down the trodden grass and head towards the still whimpering boy. She picked him up with her arms and sighed. Reborn wasn't doing anything, like always. He continued to lie on the sunbathing chair, sipping his can of alcohol.

With a grunt, she walked (he was unsurprisingly light) out the exit and dropped him a block away. Throughout the journey, the boy had said nothing. It was only till she slide him off her back did he open his clenched eyes and stare.

His shocked face was hilarious, especially with the frames of his glasses tilted, and the tears that were begging to fall. It was almost cute.

"H-huh?" a strangled cry of confusion made known his surprise.

"You should go home now." She ordered him.

He looked at her in shock, and a tear rolled down his cheeks. And then he obeyed, walking back to him apartment complex with a throbbing heart.

…

Shoichi believed the whole matter was settled. He had given the child back to the family, and remained unscathed, for the most part.

The only hint of his failure was the box that sat beside his bed. His mother and sister dared not to use it, so he was left with it until he could return it

Nightmares plagued him each night; dreams really. He dreamed of the infant that held a bat and beat others up, a scary woman that killed people with her poison, the baby had could transform into a teen with a bazooka, but most of all, he dreamed of a girl.

An ordinary looking girl that could lift a boy taller than her up in her arms like a princess. A girl who looked normal and actually talked to him. A girl who didn't frighten him to death (probably), or yell at him like his sister did.

He had never received the girl's name, and it gnawed at the bits of his heart each day. He utterly disliked not knowing...

She remained in his mind when he was sleeping, at school, when he was working on a project (his computer, broken electronic equipment, etc), everywhere. It didn't help that he didn't have a lot of friends; he spend a lot of time by himself: a hole that let his thoughts flood.

She never left his life. She became a normalcy he contained, but never got used to.

A tingling feeling in his stomach let a spark in him: It put a peaceful (or not so peaceful) vision that the girl would remain in his mind for a long, long time.

He hoped he'd get to meet her one more time in the future.

* * *

><p>AN: I'm not sure if I should apologize or not. It really has no impact on whether or not you waited for this update. But if it helps, after I finished by Nanowrimo I felt like I just didn't know my character as well anymore, so I reread everything, **edited everything in case you want to reread**, and now I have the chapter up.

Please review and comment.

And also, the plot will be changing, but nothing big.

**Yoruko Rhapsodos**- Yes, Haru is forever destined to love Tsuna at first sight, no matter what. That's just the type of character she is... Though I tried to make it more meaningful than just Tsuna getting hit by the bullet and saving the girl easily. To tell the truth, I don't see anything wrong with the girl, except that she's too dramatic.

**Sachiel Angelo-** Yes, slapping a stranger is definitely wrong, yet I try to put myself in my character's shoes. Haru, who loves babies like any normal teenage girl (just a bit more is all) hears this baby spouting random nonsense about being a hitman, assassin, etc, and sees this girl staring blankly ahead: Tsuna looks like the irresponsible character. Of course, slapping a stranger is wrong, but Haru's prone to blowing up, like Gokudera, who likes to threaten with his bombs.

**sunstar13**- I agree whole-heartily. Haru is a strange girl. But Gokudera is a strange boy. They're so similar...

**hetaliajapan1**- Well, the reason Hibari isn't in the poll is because I don't think he's a really great pairing with Tsuna. They might encounter each other at times, but for me personally, I imagine Hibari with someone delicate: either calm and cute, or capricious and hardworking. I think of Hibari's beloved (someone he'll care for more than just a combat partner) as a 'pet'. For Hibari, he needs a submissive that'll cater to him, love him, yet make him love her with a possessiveness that extends to much more than just 'pet'. Subtly, she will be the one in control, though still in his control. That is his 'true love'.


	16. Chapter 15 Minus and Plus Makes Equil

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

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><p>Chapter 15: One Minus and One Plus Makes Equilibrium<p>

A loud bang roused Tsuna up from her sleep. She groaned, bleary eyed at Reborn, who held his Leon-transformed hammer in his hands. Long, dream-like seconds had passed before a long drawled out sigh wretched its way through her lips.

The sharp pain had become her daily wake-up alarm clock. The morning menace that started ever since her body was unable to keep up with the stress.

These days, it took an increasingly few seconds longer for her to bring herself off the bed, longer to convince her mind to awake and prepare for the tiring day. She had gotten the habit of waking up in a blink. Now, seconds had reached minutes, until she found herself functional only after a full half. Reborn used to kick her awake. Now he was breaking her head awake with a hammer.

There was no point trying to stop the painful cycle. Tsuna knew this all too well.

She slouched to the bathroom, muttering about Reborn and her ever so slightly decreasing hours of sleep.

There was no way she could stop the damned 'alarm clock'. It was not an ordinary one, that little thing. No, she was quite sure that even if she were to tap its head like any other typical alarm that obediently stopped ringing, her special one would react unkindly. Yes, Reborn would react in a very scary and harmful manner that would leave her sprawling in awkward positions on the cold floorboard.

So she didn't bother. But neither could she get used to the harsh wake-up call. No one noticed, but there were slightly dark portions of her skin under her eyes—bags—and she tended to slouch more. It wasn't good for her back, but she did that only the in the mornings anyway.

Even now, she was crawling. The girl slowly slumped her way into the bathroom and headed straight for the shower. Despite her ill-functioning mind, her body was already accustomed to the routine and her fingers twisted the dial to cold.

The pelting rain that came from the showerhead felt like needle stings on her soft skin. The frigid drops awoke her immediately—that was their very purpose—and her eyes snapped wide in their usual shock, only to be clenched even tighter as they too were stung by the ongoing stabs of water.

As she scrubbed her face, brushed her teeth, and urinated—all in the shower—she tried to remember when this had started. When the painful mornings had begun. When her body couldn't seem to keep up with the 'training' both inside and out of school. She needed an escape from this outrageous cycle.

Was it that boy? The nerdy boy with glasses? Was he the onset of her cruel mornings?

No—she forgot about him as soon as he left. This couldn't possibly have anything to do with him.

Then was it a force of nature? Was it the natural way of the world for her to sleep later and later each night, growing more and more tired, until it took a hammer for her to wake up from her short recuperation sessions?

If it was, then she was irritated. More than just annoyed, but infuriated at herself, at Reborn, at Hibari, at Gokudera, and maybe even a bit at Yamamoto, though she couldn't bring herself to put too much fault in him.

Why? Because sometimes she wished that she too would be afflicted with the foolish joy, the emotion, the abundant _energy _they were cursed with.

Gokudera could smile with a single pat on the head. Yamamoto was energetic always. Hibari had the ferocity, stamina, and undying will (to bite her to death) of a bear. And Reborn...Reborn spent his days gleefully torturing her, drinking his espresso and lounging around in her house.

Her fingers held her toothbrush tightly and brushed in the usual circle, sideways, up-down formations when inspiration struck.

_Rest! _

That was it! Carefully planned, short naps around the day, or even just a few larger ones, that added to the daily count. Even ten minutes was good enough. It seemed so simple and obvious, but it couldn't be. Not with Reborn in her life, watching her every move, whether he was in a tree or walking right beside her.

But she could handle it. She had to. So as she continued to brush her teeth, she planned.

'_Gokudera will lend me his chest for a few good minutes along the day. _

'_I could ask Hibari for a few favors; I'll bear through the fight sessions. Then he'll be required to lend me his room for a slight rest. _

'_Classes I can stay 3/4-awake, conserving the majority of my strength for Hibari and rest. The other ¼ will be used to answer any sudden questions from the teachers and detecting any foreign dangers. _

'_From the training, I might be able to take in a few hard hits—Reborn'll probably let in a few seconds of extra rest if that happens.'_

Ideas, circumstances, pros, cons, they were all rolling around in her head. Even as she finished brushing her teeth, now gurgling in the shower water, she thought. And even as she finished that, she stood in the shower, the water still running, thinking.

So concentrated, she didn't notice the pleas of her shivering body.

...

Just what was taking Dame-Tsuna so long? Reborn sat calmly on the bed taking a sip of his usual espresso, deep in thought. Lambo laid unconscious underneath the bed just like the stupid infant should.

Reborn's childish face was calm; any emotion he felt was covered by the smirk that adorned his face at all times. He was calm: but deep inside, surges of emotion pulsed softly.

Things were starting to change. He knew that much. But for what reason, and whether it was for the good or bad, he didn't know. And he hated not knowing.

But things _were _going to change—for the whole mafia world. It would be slow, calm, like a soft wind that would grow into a fierce hurricane in the oceans and hit straight into the heart of the Vongola. That storm would be Tsuna and her guardians: the Tenth Generation Vongola Family.

And he was going to be the beginning. The inception. Reborn was her tutor. He would be the one guiding her from right and wrong in the mafia society, the one that would help her with all tough decisions, the one she would lean on the most.

Of course, there was a long way to that goal. For him and their relationship, and for her as a future leader.

Tsuna was manipulating. She was smart. She had the hidden aura that attracted others to her. She had the fundamentals of a leader. But she was missing the key personality. Tsuna wouldn't be just any leader; she would be the Vongola leader. And in the state she was in, if she ruled, the Vongola would fall.

Yes, she had the fundamentals, but she lacked the most important things—the things that were the hardest to gain for most people. She had no sense of real urgency. No strength. No _will_. She was a coward that was strong, yet the Vongola didn't need cowards.

All of his other students were somehow born with these qualities, despite the miniscule amounts, and these features grew even stronger during his training. They all ascended quickly in their positions—after he disciplined them enough and pulled their will out in the open.

Reborn would have to go the old fashioned way and stuff those qualities into her like any good mentor. Or at least stretch the limited supply of the things out of her body.

But one thing at a time. The first on his list was to take back his original body. This was his first hurdle: his first trial.

His heart still panged a bit at the memory of when he first lost his body to the Arcobaleno curse. How he felt, and what began to tear his heart and mind into shreds. The anger. The regret. The sadness. The fury. The despair. It was all too evident.

Things had calmed from then. He no longer felt the barrage of emotion, nor did he feel the uncontrollable rage. They were kept under heavy, sovereign control.

A small smirk flickered on to his face.

No, he was no longer stung by that fear and wrath. And another key reason for that (besides his now perfect self control) was because he had hope. It was an unfamiliar hope: it didn't as feel tangible as his other ideas.

But it was not an empty hope. It seemed to transcend above fear and doubt; it grew strong, unfailing, and burning deep within his heart.

Reborn didn't know if this hope came from his desperate desire to retain his adult body. Or because it was a sign, or just because he had somehow gained the power of hyper intuition and that led him to believe in this meager idea.

He wasn't sure, but he knew that it _will_ work out, because he would make it work out.

And that started with Verde, that mad scientist. Rumors were passed around tightly around the higher ups, and he had heard from Colonello that Verde had somehow come up with a solution to their problems: a cure to Arcobaleno curse that still kept the Tri-ni-set safe.

The green-haired bastard's words could obviously be a lie, a trap to lure outside competition to their deaths. But Reborn saw no harm in checking it out. There was, after all, no reason for the man not to share the solution considering it only applied to the select Arcobaleno group and the monetary value he would gain from the transaction would be enormous, thus providing funds for his research.

Reborn was wary. But more than that, he was hopeful. For the first time in over forty years, he was clutching something as light as hope in his hands.

Hope for him.

Hope for his future.

Hope for their future.

...

Reborn's head snapped out of his trance as he heard the shower stop. He went back to sipping his espresso with a calm look on his face.

Tsuna on the other hand, was not so calm. She was awake and functioning, but not as calm and contented as the baby sitting in front of her. She was too busy thinking, half sleeping, and partially wondering what time it was—if she was going to be late to school.

In fact, she was so busy and so tired that she made such a trivial and small, yet big mistake. It was just a mere, unnoticeable second that brought the chaos that followed it.

The hand that held her towel loosened for a mere second. Then it, the towel that wrapped her body and covered it from Reborn's view seemed to almost unravel by itself. It fell gently to the floor around her feet.

In the beginning, she barely even felt the thing drop. Her body was already used to the continuous cold. She didn't notice it.

But Reborn noticed. He noticed with wide, surprised, yet appreciating eyes. The baby—no, the man, continued to think about his adult form, and her splendid body.

Tsuna didn't have a dynamic body like Bianchi or any of his past lovers and one night stands, but she was unique in her own way.

The girl's body was matured, yet still childish. The curves and chest had grown beautifully. Yet there was some unneeded (but adorable) baby fat here and there. The legs and arms were thin, but not stick-like or fragile. He could see their muscle.

And the hair. The hair was something else a bit more intimate. More private, that seemed to strike his arousal. But not in this body no. Reborn wasn't content with using this body to leer at her. He'd much rather prefer to appreciate the view in his real body. His adult form. Where he would be allowed to react in all the right ways, and make her feel all the right ways.

Then, after he was done staring, he frowned.

Tsuna wasn't doing anything. Nothing. Her nude body was being exposed to him, and she was doing absolutely _nothing_.

That didn't make any sense. After all, he could still remember when Gokudera, that foolish boy, had touched her breasts. There was no way she could forget. Tsuna had turned the slightest pink, her eyes a bit wider than usual and her eyebrows high up in her bangs. It was a beautiful sight, if not for the fact that it was the _boy_ inducing such reactions from her and not even realizing it.

He remembered that happening, so what was happening here?

"Dame-Tsuna."

The girl perked up and stared at Reborn questioningly.

"What?" she muttered.

Reborn grew increasingly nervous. Tsuna's body didn't seem so enticing anymore. He held up his Leon gun and pointed it at her. The girl reacted appropriately, shifting to the side away from the gun. But there was a fatal flaw in her execution: her speed.

The baby watched carefully as she slowly stepped to the side. "Reborn, I'd rather you not hit me. And anyways, don't you feel cold? It's freezing in here" she said to him with an eyebrow raised.

He was dubious of the girl's consciousness and let out a small sigh. Tsuna didn't notice.

"You're naked" he said plainly.

"What are you talking about?" Tsuna looked at him strangely before looking down and finding that indeed, she was naked.

"Wha..."

The girl hurriedly tried to cover herself up with the fallen towel. Reborn watched this with cautious eyes. Those eyes turned wide and shocked as they saw the girl fall to the floor in the process of gathering her towel.

There was no mummer, or shriek: merely a silent sigh as she crumbled to the ground.

Now he knew there was something wrong. Something that went horribly wrong. Was she poisoned? Drugged? Had a wound somewhere he hadn't noticed before? Deadly scenes rolled around in his head, but Reborn took action and quickly brought the girl in his arms to the bed. He laid her carefully on the soft blankets and flipped her over, searching for any wounds.

While he found her soft buttocks: two round curves that pressed cutely together and a small birthmark there, he couldn't find any trace of a wound, not even a scar. Instead, there were small bruises that dotted her back and legs—most likely caused by himself.

There was nothing incriminating. Nothing that could lead him to believe that something was wrong with the girl.

Reborn was confused.

Then he heard something. Soft wheezy breathes came from the girl, short and erratic. Tsuna twitched and let out a cough.

Seconds passed at the sound. The hitman let out an aberrant laugh. And just for confirmation, he placed his hand on her forehead.

It was warm. Just slightly. But still, he dropped his forehead onto hers.

Yep, it was warmer than usual. But not hot.

Silent chuckles reverberated in the small room, almost loud enough to cover the weak coughs lying beneath the sound, but not quite.

There was no need to take her temperature; he was certain: Dame-Tsuna was sick. He'd seen the signs of the illness. There were the big ones, like her constantly sleepy attitude (sleepier than she was already), the lack of steam in the showers, the fact that she actually took showers during the morning. Then there were the smaller ones, like when Tsuna's retort was slightly paused and short, or when her eyes blinked a bit more than usual during classes and conversations with her guardians.

Reborn quickly clothed the naked body with the girl's pajamas and covered her snuggly with the blankets. He then headed down to the kitchen and told the worried mother of Tsuna's state.

It was a short chat, just a hello, and the information given in one simple sentence: "Dame-Tsuna's sick" that caused Nana to freeze.

"What? Tsu-chan's sick?"

Reborn had already predicted this response and repeated once more, patiently, "She's sick."

"But she hasn't been sick since she was five! Is she tired? Unconscious? Does she have a cold? Stomach virus? Fever? Flu? Oh, I should've made her take the vaccine earlier..." Nana panicked and while mumbling to herself, clamored up the stairs into Tsuna's room, entering quietly. She stood at the foot of the bed, staring down worriedly at her daughter and confirmed it.

"Tsu-chan has a light cold, that's all... And in summer... Well, Tsuna was never attuned with the heat."

The mother's shoulders slumped, as if a heavy weight had been lifted.

"She's asleep..." Nana caressed the girl's cheek with a loving hand and sighed. Tsuna was always at home, sleeping, eating, reading, but the girl never contracted any sickness. Or rather, Tsuna never did many strenuous activities to warrant any illness. This was the first in eight years.

The last was when the girl was a mere child. It was the same: a cold during the summer, where the heat was incredibly strong. Tsuna had fell from heat stroke after a particularly gruesome day at her kindergarten class where she was hit with a torrent of sand from the sandbox. The next day, she was inflicted with a terrible cold.

Tsu-chan had been sneezing and coughing fiercely, liquid dripping from her cute nose. Her cheeks were red and her chest huffing. And while it would've made a cute picture, Nana's fear overrode her desire to take out the camera. It turned out she didn't need it, because Nana couldn't forget it; the memory was engraved into her mind, permanent and unforgotten. But in her memory, Tsuna was so much more in pain, so much more pitiful looking and tortured.

Now, Tsuna lay still on the bed. Her cheeks were red, her mouth dry, and a soft up and down of her stomach, that was it. Other than the few coughs that littered out from her lips she was still: quiet and not moving. It was so much less active and sick-sounding than Tsuna's last illness, but it was so much more painful for Nana to watch.

Nana was further disappointed as she stroked her daughter's forehead; Tsuna's body unable to create a reaction. Not a twitch or the opening of her eyes like the girl usually did when Nana had bothered her in her sleep.

Her daughter was so still: so fragile looking. Her dear daughter looked so inert—so delicate, so pale: like death. Like the shinigami had claimed her daughter and all that was left was a flesh body breathing without a soul.

Reborn seemed to almost read her mind and the baby reassured the mother with a pat on the back.

"Don't worry Maman. I'll look over her."

The frown on Nan's face receded a bit as her worry was abated. There was a soft smile on her face as she stared at her daughter's innocent face.

It was only moments like these, where Tsuna was asleep, could she see any semblance of a young middle school girl in her daughter.

"Thank you Reborn. I trust you" she answered, and patted Tsuna's head one last time before cheering up. "I'll go make some chicken soup and honey lemon in case she wakes up! Watch her carefully okay?"

Reborn nodded.

Nana began to hum softly a cheerful tune and headed downstairs into the kitchen, closing the doors with a soft click.

All the while, Reborn had not moved an inch from his spot; not a single twitch of his head. His eyes did not stray from the thin body, even as the mother left. Instead, his single smooth shift of his legs settled himself comfortably in the blankets as he leaned on the bed post. Still, his eyes did not leave Tsuna.

For the duration of the time, his concentration was placed on the girl's placid face.

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><p>AN: I'm past the point of begging for forgiveness. Time seems to melt together, I can't remember the last update. But fortunately, I will have a whole weeks break! So along with my school assignments, reading, novel writing, drawing and eating, I now have a plethora of time to work on the story. But please, comment and give me some tips on my writing.

This chapter feels more of a prequel for me, for the next few chapters. And I still laugh at the utter stupidity of what Tsuna was thinking as she was showering. "Rest." As if that wasn't obvious enough. She wasn't in the right state of mind.

For the polls, I'll make it short:

1. Reborn (Understandable considering he's the one interacting with her the most)

2. Xanxus (Second as always...)

3. Mukuro (The pervert)

4. Byakuran (I'll be doing the ten years later arch)

5. Giotto/Alaude (People love the past, and so do I)

6. Belpehgor/Fon/Collonello/Yamamoto ("Middle class" I suppose. But the fans may have a boost for Fon from the latest chapters of KHR I decided to read out of boredom)

7. Squalo/Gokudera (They're so lonely... The best friend type huh.)

8. Chrome/Spanner (Work hard you two)

9. Basil/Irie/Kyoko/Ryohei (So lonely...)

10. Skull (Makes me want to comfort him)

**Right now as I'm writing this, I'm berating myself since I had a moment of short term memory loss. Note: I'm making this a open poll, it's getting disturbing how only Xanxus and Reborn are receiving votes. (Note: I'm exaggerating)**

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><p>Now for comments:<p>

**wolfcrys**- Yes, there has been an onslaught of Hibari/Tsuna since long ago. Some fanfics are okay, some mundane, some really cheesy, and some nice. But I'm sorry if Tsuna has been acting like a hideous mary sue, I need to fix my mistakes. But the instance with Haru wasn't really the true mary sue breakaway (hint). She'll be facing an 'antagonist' and... we'll see how she fares against her opponent. Of course, this is in the future.

**korrd**- I agree with you. Chrome is neglected in the anime (and thus praised in the fandom), and yes, I plan to make her much closer to Tsuna than Mukuro. As you may have noticed, Tsuna is almost sexist, treating girls (with the exception of truly aggressive women like Bianchi) much gentler than she would with boys.

And for all those who have sympathized with Shoichi (Is there supposed to be a 'u' in the sho?)- Yes, I had the total mindset of making him a pitiful looking human, rest assured, this will not last forever. However, because there won't be much interaction until the ten years later arch (unless I find a use for him later on), the problem won't be resolved soon.


	17. Chapter 16 This is My Friend

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

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><p>Chapter 16: This is My Friend<p>

A lone girl walked along the sidewalk, worried, with a cogitative look on her face.

Her gate was slow; hesitant and anxious a she gave a few pausing looks back, behind her, towards the long row of houses. Or more specifically, the area that the Sawada household belonged to. It was impossible to see, but she still hoped that somehow, out of her periphery, she would see a slow slouching walk coming towards her.

Each time she turned her head and glanced back, she hoped for this. And every time she did so, her hope diminished. Glance by anxious glance, her hope slowly fell apart, disintegrate into nothing but ash.

Sasagawa Kyoko considered herself lucky.

Lucky to have a kind brother. Lucky to have a peaceful neighborhood and school, lucky to have so many friends around her all the time. But above all, she felt lucky to be more than just acquainted with Sawada Tsuna. She was glad to be Tsuna's friend.

She had first met Tsuna during the opening ceremony: the first day of middle school, two years ago in sixth grade. Back then, she was fresh out of elementary and excited for her first day in Namimori Middle School.

Of course, she had graduated from Namimori Elementary, so she was already familiar with the school grounds, and most of her friends had graduated with her. Still, that didn't stop her from feeling the giddiness that came with growing up and entering that higher level of responsibility. As well as the prospect of new friends, and that cherished high school experience.

Her mom had made sure she was dressed up perfectly, that her new uniform was clean and ordered, not a wrinkle in sight.

Everyone was rushed around finding their places in the courtyard, and in the process someone—she couldn't remember who—had pushed her down by accident. Her friends were kind enough to ask her if she was okay, but it was then:

...

"Really, I'm fine!" I giggled. They were all so nice, but I'm barely hurt, just a little hurt. No big deal. Still, I was thankful.

I looked up and smiled at them happily and was pleased to see them smile back. But then I saw someone else I didn't notice before, which was strange when I could faintly remember her standing there a few seconds ago...

She was short, not that it was bad, but in a cute way! Besides her brown hair and pretty chocolate eyes, the only thing I noticed about her was that she was wearing such an unhappy frown. I wasn't sure if it was a frown, or a scowl, or just a bored look, but I was pretty sure she wasn't born like that! It was just... uncomfortable watching a pretty girl look so lonely.

I wanted to stand up and ask to be her friend, and I was about to do so, until her eyes flew to mine, and we seemed to share a moment there: she knew me, and I knew her. I thought it would be a great start to our friendship.

But then she looked away and left.

I found myself a bit disappointed, but my friends pulled me up and chatted amiably. I smiled and returned the gesture.

"Ano... Do you know who that girl was?" I asked politely, curious if Amu-chan or Hinami-chan would know.

They looked confused for a moment before looking back at the girl, who was still walking away. Then to my confusion, they snorted.

"Her? I heard that she was called 'Dame-Tsuna' in her old school. Apparently, she always gets just barely passing grades on her tests. She doesn't have any friends, not like anyone would be attracted to that rotten personality anyways. I can't believe she saw you there and didn't do anything!" Amu-chan said.

"Yeah!" Hinami-chan agreed quickly. "I also heard that she skips school and plays around at home just caus' she didn't want to go! And she's horrible at sports, and basically everything! That's why they call her, 'Dame-Tsuna'. 'Useless-Tsuna'. _No one_ likes her and her attitude."

A part of me felt like it was a sort of mean thing to say about Tsuna-chan. Maybe she just wasn't really great at everything than others and was bullied for it? Maybe that's why she liked to skip school. Amu-chan said that she gets passing grades, so doesn't that mean she's trying really hard?

Compassion filled me with those thoughts, and I really just wanted to follow her small form and help the girl.

But another part of me thought the opposite. Part of me thought that I should just follow Amu-chan and Hinami-chan. After all, my friends wouldn't bad-mouth other people for no reason at all. Maybe she wasn't really a great person in general.

Maybe that was it.

...

Of course, she really didn't believe that, but as young as Kyoko was, she thought it was the right answer and followed it for a year.

That is, until last year, in seventh grade, where she and Tsuna were put in the same class.

At the beginning, Kyoko didn't exactly like Tsuna. Seeing with her own eyes, she saw Tsuna looking really bored, Tsuna staring down at their sensei, Tsuna ignoring any of her friendly attempts at going out for lunch with her friends.

But that didn't mean she disliked Tsuna. Not after seeing some other things. Because with her eyes, she also saw Tsuna walking alone every day, back and forth from school. She saw Tsuna with some bruises on her arms some days. She saw Tsuna in the classrooms early—earlier than their sensei—reading big books by herself.

So she didn't dislike Tsuna. She just wanted the girl to try harder. To work more at making friends and studying and being more sociable and nice to others.

Kyoko began with simple, subtle things. She'd 'coincidentally' meet up with the girl along the way to school, and talk to her.

At first, Tsuna didn't really respond much. But sometimes, Tsuna would contribute a comment or two. Most were harsh, or critical, all about philosophy or her attitude towards others, but mostly a simple apathetical sigh would be her usual response.

Kyoko found no offense. In fact, soon, she grew used to the little comments here and there, and paid more attention to them and what they said about Tsuna as a person. She started to appreciate the smart little quips and found herself changing as her perception of Tsuna changed.

Tsuna didn't seem so small anymore. She seemed strong, and confident, and smart, according to the big books with so many unknown words that made her head spin at times.

She just thought that Tsuna-chan could be more nice to others was all.

But even that was beginning to change. Kyoko grew fond of being the only close friend Tsuna-chan had: It felt nice to be so close to someone, and learn so much about a person even if not a lot of words were said, and feel so happy about herself when Tsuna did make a nice comment. It made her especially happy to be so close to Tsuna, and for Tsuna to be so much nicer to her than anyone else other than her Tsuna's mother (they're relationship was so sweet). It made her feel special.

During their first real meeting, they introduced each other as 'Sawada-san' and 'Sasagawa-san'

Then just by asking a simple question, that turned into 'Sawada-chan' and 'Sasagawa'

Half a year later, before their school's culture festival when Kyoko tried and succeeded in persuading the lazy girl to stay for the dancing, Kyoko thought it fit to begin to call her, 'Tsuna-san'

A month later, when Tsuna helped her for the first time with her homework, it became, 'Kyoko-san.'

A week later, when they began working together on a school project and Kyoko came over to Tsuna's house, they agreed to call each other by, 'Tsuna-chan' and, 'Kyoko-chan.'

It was along, round-about way from the very beginning, and it seemed so far away for Kyoko, like she couldn't believe what had happened the past two years. But it was also a nice feeling: being close to Tsuna.

Ever since then, the two would occasionally meet up to school, work together when the class was called for pair work, Tsuna even started coming to school more often!

Kyoko liked to think it was because of her that so many good changes were happening, but she still worried about things like how Tsuna would never sit with her and her friends for lunch, or go out for a girl's afternoon to the cake shop (she claimed she didn't like sweets) or go to either of their birthdays (Tsuna claimed there wasn't anything special about them, which she passionately argued back about the value and tradition of celebrating birthdays. In the end, Tsuna still didn't listen).

Regardless of all the downsides, Tsuna did come to school every day now.

So why wasn't she here?

Kyoko took one last glance back, and once more, saw nothing. She sighed before heading to school. Along the way, she was greeted by a few other friends and they chatted—well, they chatted and she listened—about their day.

It wasn't as fulfilling as her seemingly meaningless conversations with Tsuna.

...

The group arrived at school with time to spare and they split apart, each to their separate lockers and classes. Kyoko was now alone. Again. Another sigh passed her lips before she looked up and noticed a familiar set of white hair. She didn't know many students with white hair.

Kyoko gave a bright smile at the sight of her brother.

"Onii-san!" she called out.

The boy perked up at her voice and smiled back enthusiastically. He waved his friends off before rushing towards her with a grin.

"Hey!" Then he frowned and looked around, bring his hands up to his head and pondering...

"Oh Yeah! I thought there was something not right, where's that friend of yours? The one without any passion?" he remembered, scowling at the memory to the extremely un-extreme girl.

Kyoko pouted. "Mou, Onii-san, her name is Tsuna-chan! You keep forgetting! And...well...I'm not sure where she is today. Usually I meet up with her along the way to school but today she wasn't here..."

Her brother's face grew thunderous. "WHAT? She left you unprotected, alone? You could've-you could've—I'm gunna talk to her TO THE EXTREME!"

Suddenly, he picked her up in his arms and started running out the school gates into the residential area. Kyoko sighed at her energetic brother before smiling and giving him directions to Tsuna's house. After all, she did want to know what happened to her friend.

...

Kyoko and her brother reached the Sawada's resident quickly, and just as they rounded the corner, they heard a racket near the door.

"Juudaime!"

"Tsuna!"

"Don't you dare call Juudaime so intimately you bastard!"

"Mah Mah. Gokudera calm down or else you'll disturb the neighbors."

"Tch. Like I care."

Two males were outside the house in the front of the door, yelling at each other while ringing the doorbell.

She remembered them as Yamamoto-san, and Gokudera-san—both in her class. They were Tsuna's other friends: Kyoko has seen them close to her the last few weeks, and decided to feel happy for the girl.

There was this little voice in her head that blew jealousy tinted remarks about the two, and told her about how they knew where her friend lived and walked her to and from school and had their own special names for Tsuna-chan.

However, they were guys: guys friends and girl friends were fundamentally different. Kyoko overheard them before, when they were talking about some sort of 'Vongola' and 'boss'. While she didn't really know what they were talking about, she could guess they had their own little group club, like any other guy-ish thing.

And then there was that small little voice in her head telling her to suck it up and ask Tsuna if she could join their group. Or at least slowly intertwine herself in it.

Then she could at least see Tsuna a bit more.

Tsuna.

Tsuna was...

Kyoko smiled at the numerous words that popped into her head.

Tsuna was nice. And sometimes she could be really sweet and kind. She was enigmatic, magnanimous, even friendly. Tsuna seemed to have everything all figured out.

This time, she wanted to be the one figuring out something. Or more specifically, the reason why Tsuna wasn't with her. Why the usually always there girl wasn't there.

"Yamamoto-san! Gokudera-san!" she called out, trying to catch their attention.

"ORA!" her brother called right after, yelling loudly.

The two boys clenched their ears instinctively and stopped bickering, looking around to find the cause of the noise. Their eyes met Ryohei's white and Kyoko's auburn fairly quickly. They held their customary grin and scowl.

"Ah! Hey sempai. What are you doing he-"

Before he could finish speaking, the door opened and Tsuna's mom—Nana—popped up with a fierce frown on her face.

Each person sole for Ryohei was stunned by her less than polite attitude. The feeling that they had done something incredibly wrong washed over them as they stopped moving. Yamamoto's face was trapped in its grin, Kyoko had a look of confusion on her face, and Gokudera was wide eyed, immediately giving a low bow.

"G-Gomenasai, Juudaime's mo-"

"SHH!" The mother held up a finger at her lips. "Tsu-chan's asleep! She's sick…" Nana whispered a worried look on her face.

At her words Kyoko gasped.

Sick?

Tsuna?

She wondered why it didn't seem to occur to her. For the past two years, Tsuna had skipped school to stay home or just fell asleep, but never did it look like she was uncomfortable or sick. Her friend had stayed healthy for two full years, probably much longer: it didn't seem Tsuna _could_ get sick.

"I'm sorry..." Kyoko whispered, understanding how Tsuna's mother must be feeling. She still remembered how much her own mother worried over her health last year when she had a fever. Constantly, Kyoko was given affection and care: medicine, soup, forced to staying in bed, everything.

She turned to her brother, a stern look on her face.

Her brother didn't like Tsuna. She knew that well, especially after their first meeting with each other. It went horribly wrong, and nowadays she wondered if she could have ever stopped the first clash between the two polar opposites.

...

"Onii-san, this is Tsuna-chan, my friend!" I chirped; I couldn't seem to keep the excitement out of my voice.

This was the meeting I had been planning ever since Tsuna-chan and I became friends. Onii-san was always one to worry about me, but maybe, if he saw me with Tsuna-chan, it might make a difference. Even if Tsuna-chan isn't very strong, there were so many other good points about her.

Just maybe, the meeting would spark a little chemistry between the two, and if that continued, then maybe she would get a new sister! And it was very likely too. After all, Tsuna was really bored all the time, and Onii-san so energetic, and as they say, opposites attract.

Onii-san smiled and nodded passionately, looking down at Tsuna whose mouth was in a grim line as she scowled up at my brother.

Tsuna was always sensitive about her height. I should've realized the first hint that Tsuna and Onii-san just didn't go together. Still, I hoped.

"A new friend?" her brother wondered aloud, a contemplative look on his face.

"Yes. She's Sawada Tsuna, say hello Onii-san!" I asked him politely, and then turned to Tsuna, whose gaze now left my brother and straggled along the ground. Tsuna absentmindedly kicked a pebbled and sighed.

"Tsuna! This is my brother, Ryohei!" I tried to bring back her attention.

"Call me Onii-san!" my brother yelled enthusiastically. Tsuna's frown grew wider.

I sighed. This wasn't going as well as I had planned it. Onii-san was supposed to make her happy with his cheerful grin and intense attitude. And Onii-san was handsome; lots of girls liked his personality. But he wasn't really complying with her plans.

"Oi? Why aren't you answering me? Where's your passion? You're spirit?"

"I think you have too much of your 'spirit' outside your body." Tsuna answered flatly.

"What's wrong with you?" Onii-san muttered, rubbing his head in confusion. Then he grinned and I couldn't help but think something bad was going to happen.

"I know, why don't you join the boxing club! I'll bust out your dying will to the extreme!" he shouted.

And now Tsuna wasn't replying. It took about another awkward moment before she finally spoke.

"…I'll be going now, Kyoko-chan, Sasagawa-san." She began walking away.

Before I noticed it, my lips fell into a dismal pout. I wanted to call her back and maybe introduce them to each other once again, hoping they'd have something in common. But that was hard when Onni-san liked only boxing and training and fiery passion: everything Tsuna-chan didn't like as much.

I stood there, helpless and wondering what to do to save the helpless situation when my brother moved.

He suddenly leapt forward as Tsuna-chan was leaving and grabbed harshly onto my friend's shoulder flipping her around, an intense stare aimed at Tsuna-chan's eyes.

"Oi, You're Kyoko's friend right? You'd better not let her down" he rumbled deeply, almost in a threatening tone.

My reaction boiled down to three messy feelings:

I was startled. Onii-san never acted like this.

I was sad. His voice ended darkly only when he talked to the delinquents. Did that mean he treated Tsuna as if she were an enemy of some sort?

Above all, I was disappointed. And as surprising as it was, I was disappointed in _him_.

I couldn't bother myself enough to watch as Tsuna narrowed her eyes and tore herself from his grip. "I believe you're the one letting her down" she said as her eyes glanced at me. "Now move." She shoved him to the side. In seconds, Tsuna's light footsteps resounded throughout the sidewalk, fading away into nothing.

Only Onii-san and I remained. He was shocked, his eyes wide and his hand frozen in the air, hands still trying to grip the long abandoned shoulder. My head was down. It was hard for me to tell if I was crying or not since I felt like I was. The situation didn't seem real—I didn't think it would have turned out this..harshly.

"What do you mean!" Onii-san yelled out. His reaction was minutes late; Tsuna had already left and the loud shout was heard only by the quiet air. It seemed the solemn wind was my only comforter.

And then for some reason a strange, abnormal feeling welled up in me. I didn't think I've ever felt this burning in my chest nor this utter frustration before. I only realized after, that my sadness had transformed into a dangerous anger.

"Onii-san you baka!" I shrieked as my head lifted abruptly into his wide eyes. I'm not sure what I conveyed to him; what message my eyes were telling him, but at that time I couldn't find it in me to care.

I ran home—away from my brother—with thoughts of _what will happen to our friendship?_ and _will she hate me?_ jabbing spitefully in my head.

When I arrived home I found myself silent, my cheeks tired from so much frowning and downwards tilts. I sniffed, rubbing my face and hurt my cheeks even more when I found I had to concentrate hard to see my wet hands staring harshly back at me.

...

I tend to think of that time as embarrassing; something I don't like to bring up often. Shame welled in me, remembering me yelling at Onii-san just because of my faults. Only an hour later, he had ran back home and prostrated himself on the floor, asking for forgiveness, which during my lamenting moment, I had eagerly given.

Still, maybe this was my chance at redemption.

My stern look grew soft and I felt my uncomfortable cheeks relax into its customary smile albeit a bit tighter than usual. "Onii-san, please just behave okay? Tsuna-chan's sick and she needs her rest" I asked him gently, making sure he looked directly into my eyes.

Onii-san looked back at me with an atypical serious face; his mouth was tightly knit shut into a thin straight line, yet his eyes were as sharp and molten as ever.

"I will. To the extreme, I will."

I didn't notice the wide smile that grew on my face, but I didn't need to.

I was proud.

* * *

><p>AN: This update was later than I'd thought it'd be. The rest will most likely end like this, though I do have a break coming up. It's just that my life has gotten more and more hectic, though that is not a reasonable excuse.

But besides that, please review and comment, and give any advise to my style, or awkward phrasings, etc.

Did you like the chapter? While I know that Kyoko isn't the most popular character, I tried to make her more human; more close to us. She is, after all, liked (in the manga) for a reason besides 'she's really cute and innocent'. This chapter as a whole was cheesy and a rare first person, which I enjoyed. Please comment on whether it was a good idea, or that I should have just scraped it, and include reasons!

_Now for reviewers:_

_Firstly, thanks for all those who reviewed! Whether it be because you wanted to, you had some sort of fierce urge to say something, anything, I thank you. _

**SasoLOVE111**- Yes, I think I've mentioned that I approved of Skull before. And yeah, Reborn is obviously going to be way more popular. I wonder how the fans will act when they collide...(This is going to happen)

**ezcap1st**- I'm curious about what you think is creepy... Is Reborn creepy? If so, I ask if you would look down at my comment for Stalker of Reactions.

**Sachiel Angelo**- Yes well, I made it a little more endearing that it actually looks. In a future chapter, you'll see the boys' expressions.

**ShizukaRen-Hime**- Ah well, I'm not exactly sure if she's a girl we really want to consider a role model. I like to think of her as a regular human, just with the logic and passion parts really separated from each other. Also, she spent most of her life in isolation, and somewhat enjoyed, or handled it. It took an innocent, caring girl to make her first female friend besides her mother, and her first friend, besides the Varia.

**Stalker of Reactions**- Hmmm. I think you're on to something. I can't tell you what will happen, but pay attention to Reborn, he is not what he seems, even to the omniscient viewers. Pay attention to his thoughts; his words.


	18. Chapter 17 The Curse of Doctor Shamal

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR.

* * *

><p>Chapter 17: The Curse of Doctor Shamal<p>

Worry permeated the air. Once the group was led in they were anxious to see the presumably 'sick' Tsuna. They were still a trance-like state, unable to believe that Tsuna, of all people, would be less than healthy and lounging around the house.

There would be no more sighs or smirks. No more mischievous gleams or raised eyebrows. No longer any harsh remarks or kind questions.

Yamamoto acted like any polite houseguest: he sat on the couch, sipping his tea softly. No one could tell his ever so tightening grip or the grin that grew increasingly wide at each passing moment without Tsuna there.

Gokudera and Kyoko were more obvious in their show of distress. The boy stood, pacing around in the room with quick, sporadic steps. Back and forth he went, until the boy couldn't tell his left from right; he couldn't pay attention to such minor things anyway. His Juudaime was sick! In bed! And worse yet, he could do nothing to help her.

His frown deepened further, marring his handsome face. Gokudera's thoughts were focused only on his beloved boss. What would she say if she saw him like thi?. Would she be ashamed? Tell him he was acting foolish and that there was no reason to feel so bad? He didn't know—instead, he focused more on just creating friction on the carpet beneath him.

Kyoko was worried, and torn. Tsuna's mother, Nana, was cooking in the kitchen, preparing something to help Tsuna. The girl had to curb the instinct to follow along and move into the kitchen where her frantic wandering mind would be put to rest, and she could just let her hands take control.

Two things stopped her. One was that it'd feel like she was intruding on territory. The kitchen was a sacred place in any household; the chef's sanctuary and their land. She couldn't possibly enter if there was the slightest chance that Nana would feel uncomfortable with her there as small as that chance was. But the more important reason was that she simply didn't want to leave. Kyoko didn't want to do anything but march right the stairs into Tsuna's room and check up on her friend.

So it didn't come into much surprise when she politely informed Nana, "I'll be checking on Tsuna-chan now". Rather, it was more surprising to know that it was Kyoko, not Gokudera or Yamamoto, that was first to speak this aloud. One could say that she was the most selfish out of the group, and Kyoko knew that, but she had to this or else her heart would never stop nagging at her.

Without bothering to hear Nana's answer (which would most likely be a yes) Kyoko had already started up the stairs. Gokudera, Yamamoto and Ryohei, seeing her move, quickly decided to do the same, their legs inching off the ground in seconds. Gokudera and Yamamoto were anxious to see their friend, while Ryohei was just happy to be moving around; he had been fidgeting around on the coach, trying not to say anything in fear of breaking his promise with Kyoko.

So, Ryohei was in fact, rather happy to be climbing up the stairs, trailing behind the rest as they apprehensively opened the door to Tsuna's room. Imagine what he thought when he was glancing along the wall in front of the room, only to hear a muffled shriek as the boys pounced back, landing on him in a big heap, along with the sound of a bullet that zoomed past him and made a clean hole in the wall behind him.

It wasn't very comfortable lying beneath two teens and Ryohei gave an enthusiastic push, landing them upright once more and began, "WH—" only to stop and then rephrase, "What happened?" in a confused, hushed voice.

The two ignored his question and looked back up inside the room. Kyoko was in front of them, unmoving and ignorant to what had just occurred. Reborn's gun was already stashed away somewhere, the baby's head still facing the body beside him.

"Reborn, why'd you do that for?" Gokudera demanded in a hushed tone. Yamamoto nodded in agreement, his eyes particularly sharp. Kyoko just stared between the two, wondering what was going on, and what had just happened.

Of course, her confusion lasted only a few seconds as she quickly directed her attention to the sleeping figure on the bed. Tsuna laid still, her chest softly rising and falling as the girl's hair fell promptly alongside her. If Kyoko didn't know better, she would've assumed she was sleeping.

That was before she heard the soft, wheezy coughs that she had to double-check were there. They were so soft and sporadic it was hard to tell beyond the quiet yet still very loud squabbles of the boy talking to Reborn. But they were there, and it made Kyoko's whole perspective change. Now, Tsuna's hardly moving, sleeping body, looked so fragile and weak.

This was what she imagined an old woman at her death bed to do: cough softly, breathing lightly, until the woman fell asleep into the world beyond.

Kyoko frowned. This was not like her. When had she becomes so pessimistic? Perhaps Tsuna had affected her more than she realized?

"Ah, I'm sure Reborn has his reasons right? Why don't we check on Tsuna now?" Yamamoto started, interrupting her downwards train of thought.

Gokudera quickly retorted, "Don't call Juudaime so informally! But Juudaime..." He trailed off muttering; he made it seem so difficult to agree with someone.

"Dame-Tsuna's fine. But if you're going to be loud then leave" Reborn squeaky voice sounded out, and Kyoko took a moment to gush at the cuteness of the baby before nodding.

"I'm sorry, we'll be quiet."

"But Reborn! What happened to Juudaime? Why's she sick? She can't be sick, after all, she's Juudaime!"

Kyoko thought it strange, that he was so adamant on 'Juudaime' (she wanted to know why he called her that) being not sick. Sure, she understood that no one wanted Tsuna to be ill, but the way he said it was as if Tsuna was incapable of contracting a virus or common cold.

Kyoko left it as Gokudera being Gokudera. Foreigners came from different places after all. What if in America, they didn't get sick a lot since their medicine and supplements and diets were so healthy?

Yep. Kyoko nodded to herself. That had to be it.

With that conflict resolved she turned back to Tsuna. Her friend needed her support. She placed her hands on the girl's slightly clammy forehead, then brought them to clasp the other's rough hands, and smiled. "I hope you get better Tsuna-chan" she wished. And despite the worry for her friend, Kyoko also felt the deep joy that came with the familiarity and closeness that came with it.

She was watching over Tsuna in a weak state: something she was sure Tsuna would never want anyone to see. Gokudera and Yamamoto were playfully bickering with each other on the other side of the bed with Onii-san popping up once and a while, but that took nothing away from the situation.

It was a peaceful moment.

It was, at least, until a loud bang sounded from under. Instantly, everything in the room became silent as their heads snapped to the door.

"What was that?" Gokudera barked, his hands trailing closely to his sides. Yamamoto's eyes were sharper than before. Reborn saw these things, and felt pride strike him before he threw it into the far crevices of his mind. Kyoko saw nothing, still concentrated on the door.

"You two, go down" he ordered.

Without hesitation they quickly strode out the door downstairs.

…

"So, who do you think it is?" Yamamoto asked, his hand rubbing the backside of his head. His other hand held a nice wooden bat he found in Tsuna's room.

"Che. How the hell should I know?" Gokudera muttered, his feet hitting each step on the stairwell briskly. "Be quiet" he shushed the boy behind him with a harsh jab in the stomach and continued down.

He wasn't prepared for the sight that greeted him.

There he was, on his back his legs in a ridiculous pose. Before Gokudera even reached the end of the stairs, the nauseating scent of venom, insects, frogs, and something burnt wafted into nose, sending him on the verge of vomiting. It was bearable but it was hard to keep the feeling of acrid liquid (luckily he hadn't eaten much that afternoon) from rising above his throat.

"T-Teme Shamal...!" he whispered before turning away, unable to stand the 'food' that was stuffed into the man's mouth, it's acidic sauces dripping out with a loud _drop sizzle_.

He was even less prepared for the face that was thrust upon him the next moment.

"It's been a while since I killed someone for the good of the world."

There is was; the rumbling in his stomach that presaged the agony that would attack him, leaving him in a pitiful heap on the ground. No matter what he did, however he tried to evade or bear the pain; it would rise like a cockroach and invade.

"O-Onee—" Gokudera dropped to the floor in a heap on the ground. He was foaming. "Ju-Juudaime!" he cried out with his last breath before succumbing to the pain.

Yamamoto watched with curiosity. "You sure you a lot of people" he noted. And he never knew Gokudera even had a sister!

"Eh, nice to meet you." It was customary to greet people nicely.

The woman looked him up and down before snorting. "I didn't know Hayato had so many friends." There was a small tear in her eye, something Yamamoto picked up quickly.

His lips widened into his bright smile. "I didn't know Gokudera had a sister!"

The woman smiled. "I guess you're teaching him in my place."

The boy didn't know what she was saying, but went with it. "Mah, he's always funny to watch. So what's your name?"

Suddenly, the air felt warmer than usual. Yamamoto felt the sweat that slid tickly down his forehead. "Oh? I didn't know middle-schooler's could hit on a older girl like that! Even youngsters understand romance!" She began sputtering nonsensical things that Yamamoto couldn't help but laugh at. "Hahaha, she's definitely his onee-san."

But despite the humor of the moment, his eyes directed themselves to the man on the floor. His eyes widened when he saw the supposedly dead hands move and peel some kind of paper from his face. The food that was there sat on the paper; the man's face was undamaged.

"She's such a tomboy" he smirked and fully peeled the sheet off before throwing it away. "Girl's shouldn't act like that..." he scratched his goatee, "but that's why I like you even more now!"

Yamamoto couldn't help but watch amazed as the man leaped and in one step, reached the woman with a strangely flushed face. His lips touched the woman's cheek with a loud _smack_. Yamamoto's cheeks turned a slight pink, never having seen such intimate things between two people, before he laughed it off as the woman retaliated by sending the man on the opposite side of the room with a roundhouse kick.

"DIE!"

The boy laughed even more as the man rose again without even a flinch and replied, "No need to be embarrassed Bianchi, how about a kiss?"

It seemed this happened so many times; they were probably together. But the man had so much vitality, just like his dad!

A presence beside him told him it was Reborn. And it was enough to remind him of Tsuna, who was lying sick in bed. Something daunting fell in his stomach, like a heavy weight that continued to bring him down on his knees; at least, that's what it felt like.

It felt something like guilt. But worse. Here he was, laughing at the couple's antics while she was suffering.

"She's fine" Reborn announced amidst the rampage going on in the room. The boy's eyes widened and he looked up at the baby. It felt like the baby had read his mind... But that wasn't possible right? It was probably a coincidence. After all, Reborn had just come up from upstairs: it would make sense to report on Tsuna's status.

"And they're not a couple. As you can see, he likes woman and is a kissing freak."

"Ehh?" Yamamoto was stunned. They weren't lovers? From what he saw, the two seemed like perfectly contented people, with their healthy lover's spats and the teasing.

Then a particularly horrid stench flew to his nose and he twisted his head to see the man—Dr. Shamal's—face covered with a sickly looking purple goop.

Okay, now that he thought about it, they didn't seem like the most loving couple; there was so much physical violence, though maybe he could attribute that to them being in the 'mafia' thing with Tsuna. They were, after all, related to Gokudera, who was related to Tsuna.

In fact, it always confused him to see Gokudera always so close with Tsuna. And the admiration! There was this strange sparkling look in Gokudera's eye whenever the boy stared at Tsuna's face, and especially when she was smiling—not that he's saying her smile was strange since it was cute, but with anyone else, Gokudera would be this loud, frowning boy. It was... weird. Yamamoto left it at that.

"Dr. Shamal's a doctor from Italy."

At first, he didn't register the little hitman's squeaky voice; it was a ring that chimed in at random intervals he usually picked up and glanced at before storing it in the back of his mind. Usually at least.

His head snapped towards the baby and he muttered, "A doctor? He came for Tsuna?"

It should have abated his worries, the fact that a doctor, all the way from Italy, came to make sure she was alright, but Yamamoto's grin fell into a thin line. It didn't feel safe to give a defenseless girl to the doctor.

No, not at all.

"Ano..." He faltered at the first word and trailed off into a prolonged silence. How was he supposed to declare his selfish wishes to keep the doctor away from Tsuna when she needed his services? Yamamoto was at a lost.

"He's not for her."

Yamamoto was still strangling a word when he caught the infant words and held it together in his mind. "What? He's not here for Tsuna?"

Reborn didn't deem the question worthy for a response and turned towards Dr. Shamal, who was once again at the ground against the wall, head bashed slightly into the wall board.

"Oi, what are you doing here?" Reborn demanded nonchalantly, his face warped into a disgusted smirk.

"I'm actually here for the patient you asked for before. Remember? Cavallone? The one you said had the nice body, wide hips, luscious blonde hair, blue eyes with the sexy smile?" Shamal furthered his point by letting his hands grope the empty air perversely, as if there really were large mounts for him to caress.

Reborn blinked. "I assigned the request a year ago."

Shamal laughed it off and shrugged his shoulders uncaringly. "Eh, I was a bit busy in Italy. But here I am now! I mean, as soon as I arrived, I found sight of that beautiful tomboy over there" he pointed to Bianchi, who was busy making another concoction in the kitchen "and followed her here!"

"Matte, you mean you're not here for Tsuna?" Yamamoto interrupted, a relieved grin on his face. The smile lasted for a mere second until Shamal grinned along with him.

"Oh? There's another patient? Well then, I'll get right to it!" Bianchi forgotten, the man began heading towards the stairwell, his legs moving in long purposeful strides. Yamamoto tried to intercept the man only to be evaded as Shamal gracefully twisted around his arms.

"Here I come~" he cried out, running along the steps.

The boy wasn't sure how the man even knew where Tsuna was, but he dismissed the question quickly, instead following up and running right behind the man in hopes of stopping him. Yamamoto hadn't even begun to wonder why Reborn wasn't there and helping him.

When Yamamoto reached the top of the stairway, he was surprised to see Kyoko outside the door, and Shamal's arms wrapped around her in a vicious hug.

"You're cute~" his puckered lips went dangerously close to her face "Lemme give you a kiss."

And before the boy could do anything, Kyoko had shrieked, a startled look on her face. "KYAA!"

Immediately, Ryohei burst out the room and greeted the scene with an angry shout.

"ORA! What'd you do to my sister?" he screamed, glaring at each face in the area until he stopped on the unfamiliar man with his arms wrapped around his sister. He reacted accordingly.

The fist was thrown with amazing accuracy that ensnared the doctor between the boy and the stairwell; there seemed to be no escape. But the man was still standing with a cool look, and Yamamoto could catch a minute movement of the hand before the boy was felled, on the floor snoring, his hand still clutched in a fist.

To Yamamoto's ire, the man entered in the room without a problem. He quickly followed, remembering to pat Kyoko on the head in comfort (even if he never knew how it felt to be molested, he was sure it was an uncomfortable experience, and would probably be uncomfortable to Tsuna, even if his friend was asleep.)

As he entered the room, a dark feeling spread in his heart, and his eyes grew a tiny bit sharper, his knuckles a tiny bit whiter.

There was Shamal, right beside the fallen Tsuna, a serious look on his face. "Excuse me" was all he said before he cruelly placed his dirty hands on Tsuna's chest. And a horrid blush went on his face as he felt the round moulds.

It was too much. Yamamoto instantly found a nice metal crowbar that had been lying around and swung it. Hard.

Though he made sure to swing at the shoulder, instead of straight on at the head. And just as the weapon hit the man's shoulder, a long black leg swung so fast it was a blur, and kicked the doctor straight in the stomach.

The darkness that smothered his eyes disappeared, replaced with a frantic fear as he forced his stressed muscles to stop. Sweat rolled off his pores. He stood frozen, the crowbar just centimeters away from Tsuna's face.

Slowly, after he felt in control of his body, he brought his hand down and quickly placed the weapon onto the floorboard, away from the girl lying helplessly on the bed.

It was just centimeters from doing something he would have regretted forever. It was depressing when he thought about it.

"Che. She couldn't keep him out" Reborn sighed, sitting on the bed.

Yamamoto gave a shaky grin. So that had been his leg. That reassured him somewhat; Reborn always knew what to do, and always made sure everything ended up okay in the end.

But that reassurance slipped away with the infant's next words. "Well Shamal, get to work. She has a cold."

The doctor sighed, already up and ready. "What, just a cold?"

There was silence. "Get to work."

Yamamoto was stunned. He didn't understand why Reborn , even after Shamal had more than proved that he was unsuitable to be a doctor, would let the doctor work on Tsuna.

It seemed that the astonishment that splattered his face was obvious since Reborn spoke, "Trident Shamal carries 666 diseases that can be used to cancel out the opposite disease. The diseases are transferred through mosquitoes. He won't be touching her."

The boy let out a sigh of relief, and the fist that he gripped tightly began to loosen. He then watched as the man flicked opens a white box with pills lined up in dozen of rows. His curiosity grew even greater as Shamal took a capsule and threw it in the air.

With a soft poof, the pill broke open, leaving a mosquito that after close inspection looked to have a trident like stinger. He'd never seen anything like it before...

The mosquito flew quickly to the girl resting on the bed and floated onto an arm.

_Suuuuc_—

An arm lashed out on the bug within nanoseconds of the disease being administered. Then as the arm let go, a small figure could be seen slowly making its way back to Shamal, which if seen closer was the squashed body of the mosquito, before dropping mere millimeters away from its master.

"Ugh... nnn... Mm." There were a few soft grunts that bubbled its way out of the girl's mouth as Tsuna leaned forward on the bed.

She didn't know what was happening or what had happened for that matter, but the noise was rather annoying, and she seemed to have a distinct memory of someone touching her, along with a torrent of fleeting memories of 'Cavallone' and 'Trident'. She didn't like being touched when she had no way of responding, neither did she like people sputtering utter nonsense in her room.

Nor did she like someone waking her up from her power nap.

"Tsuna!" an aggravatingly cheerful exclaimed in front of her, and she turned to the voice her mind registered as 'Yamamoto'.

"The hell? What are you doing here?" she barked, clutching her head as she began to hear a loud ringing erupt from her brain.

"Well, I saved you." A loud obnoxious voice called out from the side. The slimy voice instinctively grated on her nerves. She turned her head to find some sleazy looking mafia with an even creepier smile. While she had observed the pervert, a name popped from her brain and she voiced out, "Dr. Shamal."

The man smirked and rubbed his goatee. "You know me eh? I am popular with the ladies, but if you really want to impress, how 'bout a kiss?" he touched his lips disgustingly.

Tsuna almost wretched. However, she held in the urge to barf, settling with a discontented look, aimed straight at the man. She supposed the name would have struck a fierce chord in her, coming from his instantaneous seduction of a middle school student, almost half his age, most likely less.

"... Leave" she ordered.

Shamal raised an eyebrow and scratched his chin, deep in thought. "What a demanding little girl. Who knew she'd be such a princess?" He began giggling to himself, rudely ignoring her demands.

"Dame-Tsuna's the future boss of the Vongola. She's a dame-hime" informed Reborn, who was now sitting on her legs, keeping her, rooted onto the bed and unable to injure the pervert without throwing Reborn off, which would inevitably lead to a painful punishment.

The sole purpose of Reborn's restriction was to calm Tsuna down, but even then she could feel her hands clench into tight fists then opening, repeatedly. If only she had her guns.

There was no perversion in the Varia, or Vongola for that matter. Any instances of flirtation or sexual innuendos, harassment of any kind were dealt with. Harshly.

Yet this man had the gall to even think of insulting her with such trash talk.

"Leave"

This time, she directed her order to the rest of the occupants of the room, including Yamamoto and Shamal. And to make her words taken seriously, she flung an extra pillow at the pervert. Predictably, the man dodged the object with a flamboyant step to the side. Of course he wouldn't have seen the incoming crowbar she had noticed before and with great accuracy, lobbed at the man.

It was a direct hit to the head and with a loud _thunk_, Shamal crumbled into the floor. It gave ample time for Yamamoto to take hold of the man's suit and drag the body along the hard floorboards.

"See you Tsuna!" he waved with a smile. Tsuna returned the gesture, though not as readily, and waited until she heard the soft click of the door, then sighed. She was about to succumb to sweet sleep when another click sounded out, signaling the opening of the door.

A soft girlish voice questioned, "Ano, are you okay?"

Tsuna gave another silent sigh. Kyoko. Her forced her eyelids open once again and glanced up at the nervous looking girl at the door, who neither in nor out; stuck between the room and the hall.

"Come in."

Kyoko brightened considerably at the response and stepped in the room, closing the door behind her. She walked up to the bed and handed her a group of flowers woven together into a crown. They were wildflowers, in a variety of bright, light colors that still had a few bits of soil on them.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Tsuna deadpanned, staring at the clump of flowers in her hands.

"You're supposed to wear it on your head! It's a crown" the cheerful girl replied before taking the crown from Tsuna's hands and placing it gently on the girl's head. A poorly intertwined dandelion fell off at the contact and floated down onto Tsuna's nose. Kyoko started giggling at the sight and the flittering sound wove its way around Tsuna, calming her down. Just like always.

"Mom says it's supposed to bring good luck and health!" Kyoko noted, plucking the dandelion and throwing it into the air with a twirl. The stem dragged the flower down, until it lay resting on the floor.

Kyoko stood there, her hands twitting with the hem of her school dress. "If you're still not feeling well, would you like me to st—"

"Times up, now go to school. Dame-Tsuna will be staying." A clear, squeaky voice cut into the warm conversation abruptly.

"Eh?" Kyoko stared at the infant, surprised at being cut off so rudely. And then she repeated the words in her head, and blinked.

"Go before the pervert wakes up. It'd be unpleasant if that actually happened" Tsuna translated.

Oh. Now she understood. "Then, thank you for your hospitality, Tsuna-chan, Reborn-kun" she smiled, '"And I hope you'll feel better for tomorrow Tsuna-chan!" before leaving.

As soon as the door was slid closed, Tsuna plopped herself snuggly back into her blankets, curling into a tight ball around her core. Gravity weighed down on her eyelids. Slowly, her consciousness began to drift into the beyond; she stood no chance against the warmth that was lulling her mind into numbness, nor the uncomfortable itching of her throat; the sooner she fell asleep, the sooner the unknown sensation would disappear.

"Savor the peace Tsuna, you won't be getting it again" the infant beside her announced, too softly for the already sleeping girl to hear. Still, her body registered the soft feeling on the tips of her toes and kicked at it, prying away from the unfamiliar touch.

Reborn let out a slight chuckle and pulled his hand away flighty leg. He stared at the balled up body, then at his own five-year old form, and chuckled once more, but harsher.

He tipped his fedora down, casting a shadow upon his innocent baby eyes and headed outside the door, leaving not even a single click or creak as the door shut closed.

...

"Dr. Shamal."

The doctor, trained from years ago, instantly knew the voice to be Reborn's. And there was no way he couldn't tell the difference between an amused Reborn, and a serious one.

"Ah! Reborn, what do you want?"

"I'll be leaving for a short while and you'll be staying here in case Dame-Tsuna's case gets worse, which it shouldn't."

Dr. Shamal's stern face grew wide and loose at those words and he smirked and sung, "Well then, I'm sure Tsuna-chan'll be perfect under my care, trust me."

"I don't" Reborn retorted, "which is why I'm sending in a substitute. The blonde Cavallone."

"Ho? Even better!" Shamal cheered. To find the chances of living in the same home with a woman! The trip here wasn't a waste after all.

Too full of his imaginations, Shamal couldn't see Reborn smirk and pat his fedora down mischievously.

"We'll see" was all he said before leaving.

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><p><strong>AN:** Around three months of no posting... I'm sorry guys. Several stagnant months of tests, sports, and overall chaos (Finals now), but most likely, sometime in the summer, I'll have days of writing done and earlier updates.

Even if I'm updating slowly, I'll say that I won't be stopping this fanfic. And that the Varia are coming soon... Still a few more chapters to go through, but they'll be coming, and both you all and I will finally be able to see their reunion, whether it be painful or heartwarming (I'm not telling yet).

EDIT: Oh man. There were some reviews: **NOTE**, When I said three women (Before I took it out), I meant Nana, Tsuna, and the Cavallone. My bad.

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><p>Next: Comments<p>

**xxxWhite-Wing13xxx:** The clash huh... Ryohei and Yamamoto, Gokudera. Hmm. It's fairly obvious that Ryohei doesn't take too well with Gokudera (after all, two hot-heads always clash badly), but I'm more looking forward to Haru, Bianchi, the people who you don't see together often in manga, _because_ they don't have any specific similarities.

**Sachiel Angelo:** Yeah, I also realized how cheesy the whole thing was. This chapter is also, probably really cheesy. However, like you said, sometimes the cheesy moments that make you gag shouldn't be discarded. Luckily, this is the last Kyoko pov. I think.

**long live marshmallows:** Hmm. I'm not sure, but I'll check after around two weeks (clear my memory), and check again. But thanks for the tip; I might edit.

**ShizukaRen-Hime:** True. Tsuna, because she's either thinking deeply into something or just not thinking at all (sleeping, resting), tends to go all depressed. Possibly influenced by the Varia? Or her father? Or maybe just her. In any case, Tsuna isn't really trying to do the right thing, but rather she is still a child (at least what I think). She's not evil enough to notice these (bad) things, and still force herself to not care. But rather, she's selfish because she can't stop herself from doing these things (The strong stinging in her heart forces her to do something, even if she's thinking that it doesn't matter). I consider her more of a laid-back, serious, and often-times, a kid. A smart kid, but still a kid. Guilty feelings arise at times, happy moments, sad moments, she can't control them or her emotions (except to a small extent, anger/irritation). Course, there is some morals in her- She'd rather not kill a person, would she?

**Polar Pig:** Thanks for your tips! I admit, things look rushed: I suppose its mainly most of her interactions with the other characters left little room for her relationship with Reborn. And that there is a large age gap between them. And oftentimes, I think things that I forget to write down, or didn't realize I hadn't. Well, I'll continue to write, and hopefully you'll be in for a surprise. Or you might just go, "What the hell is this? Too abrupt man" since I don't trust my writing enough. Still. And about Ryohei, I really don't know much about the character from the manga. But I thought that Ryohei from the past might be a bit different from the Ryohei now, perhaps a bit childish, possessive, I'm not sure. However, I thought of him as valuing his sister above all- and therefore his strength. The will to move forward and protect his sister. Perhaps Ryohei felt insulted at this girl, this random girl that stares at the ground with bored eyes, ignoring all attempts at his sister's 'conversation'. Perhaps I was making it too much. Still, thanks for the info.

**BrokenBlackCat**: For the first question, no, Ryohei is not going to like Tsuna. Besides the fact that he placed low in the polls, I really believe that right now, Ryohei is a numskull without any idea of puberty and love in his brain, besides his protective stance for Kyoko. When I want a romance between someone and Tsuna, I believe that either the man will be chasing Tsuna, or that Tsuna will really find someone that compliments her so much that she will passively live with the person, love progressing naturally, until marriage. The latter's not going to happen in this manga. At least, I don't think. And the second question is answered (I think) in the A/N.


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